As Year 12 students slowly return to the classroom, many have discovered a renewed enthusiasm for education and a new perspective on life.
Having been out of school since early March, many have quickly tired of home schooling and online learning and have hankered after their previous, more sociable routine.
At the Australian Islamic College of Sydney, students are excited to be back with one another in the classroom setting, freshly convinced on the merits of in-school learning.
Iman Khan returned to school this week along with her Year 12 classmates. With HSC exams looming, she has come to realise that although she was more productive at home, learning online wasn't enough.
“Online learning has its pros and cons,” Iman said. “It’s fun because you do it at your own pace. I felt more productive at home, but for subjects like English, you need the face-to-face lectures or it becomes very hard.
"You're breaking down texts and you don't understand them, so you need that connection with the teacher. So it was fun, but then it gets stressful towards the end.”
Iman and her friends felt relieved when they were called back to school. They are the first 50 of their school's 1,300 students to return.
“I am very happy,” Iman said. “I am with my friends and teachers, and there is that vibe again.”
HSC anxiety
For first-time principal Sherin Mohamed, the return to school could not have come sooner. She had just been appointed as the school’s principal when the pandemic hit and while she was in touch with many of her students during remote learning, she found many to be anxious about their upcoming HSC exams without the support of the classroom environment.
“It’s been extremely difficult to manage,” Ms Mohamed said. “It was something that we never thought we would have to do, but the excellent set of executives that I have have shown great leadership. The team has done extremely well.
“Our number-one concern was our students. They were full of fear and anxiety to a certain extent, but our teachers are phenomenal in making sure our students feel safe and secure, so we have tried to the best of our ability to nudge them through this time and make sure their learning has been effective online.”
Ms Mohamed is now facing the challenge of slowly having all her students return to school over the next few weeks.
Sherin Mohamed, Principal of The Australian Islamic College Sydney. Source: SBS
“We are bringing back Year 12 for sessions this fortnight, then from week three we will have them here consistently full-time,” she said. “We will start with the senior school and bring back years 11 and 12, then stagger our approach for the rest of the school."
Fresh perspective
For some students, time away from school has been eye-opening and liberating. It has allowed some to have more time for other things outside of their daily online learning commitments.
Rami Haouchar is one of the Year 12 students now back in school. Since the pandemic began and school sessions reduced, he has been finishing his online school assignments early in the day before heading to the restaurant where he works as a chef.
The experience has given him a peek into his future as an adult, with his days filled with work hours rather than school hours.
“The last few months have definitely been very different for me,” Rami told SBS News. “Online learning has allowed me to focus on myself and really re-evaluate decisions I have made about my goals and what I want to achieve. It’s definitely been different.”
Although he enjoys being a chef, Rami is now considering a different career path.
Zach El-Etri, meanwhile, doesn’t feel he missed out on any learning, but he did miss his friends.
“The learning part has been alright because online learning has been going on, but the face-to-face interaction has been lacking, which makes it a bit more boring,” he said.
“Because it’s the final year of school we have been missing out on that interaction (with friends). Although we have been texting each other it has not really been the same. When you see each other, you just connect better. We used to just take it for granted but after being home for a few weeks we realised how much we needed that interaction. Coming back made us appreciate it more.”
For another Year 12 student, Fatimah Eldannaoui, the goal of becoming a psychologist has become more important to her than ever before. Now after the pandemic, she is considering becoming a school psychologist.
A student works on an online class assignment in his bedroom. Source: FR170751 AP
“After school I had planned to pursue psychology in university and take that path of helping people, maybe coming to a school,” Fatimah said. “I had a few doubts about it, but I have reaffirmed my goal and really want to pursue this passion.”
Imran Rather, the school captain, passionately wanted to be a pilot when he is older, but COVID-19 has made him want to study engineering instead.
“COVID has really helped me realise that being away from friends and family is hard,” he said. “Pilots, half the month they’re out flying planes. I realised it’s probably not the easiest job for me to do.”
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