Thousands of migrants have been camping in freezing inhumane conditions in the horrible vicious circle between wire fences on Polish and Belarus sides. The situation is getting worse and worse. People lose hope and very often lives.

Beata Sowa, an independent journalist who visited the outskirts of the guarded zone, said: “Migrants got to Minsk because they believed false promises that it would be an easy, quick way to a happy, rich Europe. But it turned out completely different on the spot. I heard stories of a beaten Kurd who said that after a few days in the forest on the border he went to a Belarusian border guard and asked for permission to return home, he didn’t want to try anymore, he was on the verge of exhaustion. The guard, however, beat him badly, damaged his phone and ordered him to go ‘through Poland, because now it is the only direction’. They are really trapped.”

A few days ago a four-year-old daughter of migrants from Iraq went missing. Her parents were transported back to Belarus, while she was looked after by other migrants still on the border. At night the temperature dropped to -15 degrees Celsius. There is no chance of surviving in the forest by anyone, especially a small child. Several hours of searching the border area did not bring any result. The girl has not been found yet.

Thousands of people have been trying to cross into Europe since the summer. Now, in winter, migrants situation is life-threatening. Already a dozen people were found dead along the border with Poland and Belarus. The humanitarian crisis is still ongoing. People hide in the forest, many of them try to break through the border security, putting themselves in danger of guards using tear gas. Border Guards have recorded over 30 thousand attempts to illegally cross the border. Recently migrants grouped and provoked by Belarussian services tried to force through the Polish border.  

“There are a lot of evil things going on there. And I mean not only the tragedy of migrants, but also the complicated situation of the citizens of border areas, who for several months have been living in the atmosphere of “martial law”, fed by the government propaganda that they should fear strangers”, Sowa added.

And here there are thousands of migrants, trapped between political scuffles. What is more, we, outsiders do not know much about what is going on there. Indeed, journalists were not allowed to access the territory and report migrants actions on the Polish border. Because of the ban on independent media, Belarus authorities were able to impose their narrative and spread the propaganda. The situation changed in December. Now reporters can work in the area, but only under the supervision of border guards. Journalists cannot photograph military infrastructure, as well as talk to soldiers.

Sowa said: “When I was there the rule was that journalists were not allowed to enter the border area. It was a closed zone. So I moved to the outskirts of the zone, near Narewka and Hajnówka. Our car was stopped several times. I was travelling with a Finnish editorial office – we had ID cards, but the car was searched anyway. Luckily we didn’t have any problems. The policemen were fine with us. I didn’t notice any misbehaviour towards the migrants neither. But the border guards or the soldiers – some of them were in uniform, but with no signs, so I don’t know what units they belonged to – were much more aggressive. In general, the situation there is very tense and guards don’t want to talk to the press at all.”

Every day migrants try to cross the border risking their lives for a better future. Humanitarian aid has very difficult access to the migrants camp. Outsiders cannot do anything to help those people. Stopping journalist from reporting actions on the border causes misinformation and raises questions about how the guards treat migrants. The situation is dramatic because it is not only about political encounters but people’s lives.

Albert Einstein said: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change”. Indeed, 2020 has brought a new reality that we have to face. During this year, education has changed substantially. The question is if the pandemic is going to modify the schooling system forever.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world we knew and has revealed many problems, in which humanity is now dealing with. One of the biggest issues which the educational system had to cope with, was adjusting to the new reality. The transformation from face-to-face teaching to online schooling required a lot of effort from both sides, teachers and students.

The e-learning experiment became mandatory and forced the world to invent new ways of teaching and learning. Parents of young students also faced many issues with linking their, often remote, work and helping their children with studying online.

A few experts shared their opinions, among others, secondary school literature teacher and privately my mum.

Elzbieta Wilk- Cupriak said: “I think that the remote studying is going to be the twenty-first century common education. Online teaching made us, teachers, realize how many different ways of broadening students’ horizons are available and actually easy to implement. While sharing experiences with other colleagues, we agreed that digital sources are more appealing for young people and they use them more willingly.”

According to the World Economic Forum, remote studying is more effective. Research shows that on average, students retain 25-60% more material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. Students also are able to learn faster online. Remote studying takes 40-60% less time to learn than in a traditional classroom.

Paul Anderson, journalist and lecturer, said: “The thing which I realised and works really well, is how much easier we can get visiting speakers to talk to students via Zoom than live. Remote studying has a positive influence on students’ attendance which is very good. It is possible that we will use Zoom also in the future, when students will have only a tutorial which can be listened to online, without going to campus.”

Anderson also gave a few examples of negatives for remote classes, which are, among others, lack of communication between students. Indeed, one of the main points of education is being around peers and socialising as much as possible. In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of people feel lonely and even virtual contact cannot replace the physical one.

Dr Angela Armstrong- Coster, a professor of Sociology, former lecturer and author of the book ‘Living and dying with cancer’, explained that everyday structure of our world, as we knew it, was suddenly and violently wrest apart. She said: “Our new reality has been haphazard, reassembled, piecemeal into what today passes as a temporary fix, though even this is still subject to renewed changes on a daily basis.”

“At the heart of this our new and now, randomly and the chaotic world is our youth, our students who, in a few short years, will become the critical decision-makers, the luminaries of our world”. Dr Armstrong-Coster added: “Recent educational theory suggests that this criticality can best be developed in seminars, in the application of small-group work. Carried out by three or four students discussing the topic in groups which then report back to the larger class. Taken further, the use of Blackboard or other electronic advances can also encourage and foster multi-peer learning, with students constructively criticising each other’s work. This is intended to promote the spirit of a virtual community learning platform amongst the individuals who may find themselves physically isolated.”

The term “digital natives” fits perfectly in the topic about remote studying. The author of this concept and education speaker, Marc Prensky said: “Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”

As Prensky explained the terms he created: “Digital Immigrants’ grew up in a non-digital, pre-Internet culture before they experienced the digital one. ‘Digital Natives’ know only the digital culture.” Indeed, students are more familiar with new technology than the older generation- their professors.

Dr Magdalena Pluskota, lecturer and secondary school teacher, pointed out that remote teaching is a big challenge for her. She said: “During my pedagogical studies nobody taught us how to use modern technology in education. In the short term of time, from March till December, I developed my technical skills to meet new requirements and provide the best classes for my students.”

Dr Pluskota noticed that online studying is a chance for students to get better marks with less effort, because, among others, they do not need to commute every day. On the other hand, teachers noticed a lack of motivation among students, weariness of unified formula and socialising issues.

Taking a new perspective on online education, schools and universities should introduce more real-world projects than lessons only. It can encourage students to take actions, because as Benjamin Franklin said: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn”.

Penny Wrout, lecturer and journalist, said: “I’m certainly grateful for the technology which has allowed us to carry on teaching during this time.  I may be a bit sick of sitting in front of a computer talking, but without Zoom, I wouldn’t even know what many of my students look like! 

”It has certainly changed some aspects of teaching dramatically – but not all are for the worse. For example, I didn’t previously use quizzes so much in my classes, but I find that they’re a really useful way of checking that students have actually absorbed what I’ve been teaching. I was slightly dreading teaching some of the more technical aspects of broadcast journalism on Zoom.  Adobe Premiere is complex software at the best of times but trying to help students feel comfortable with it at such long-distance was daunting.”

The big question is also, what if students do not have technical equipment? What about poorer families who cannot afford new devices? We have to remember that there are people who do not have laptops or Internet at home. The University of Essex gives the students an opportunity to borrow devices they need, which is a very good idea. But what about children from primary or secondary schools?

The Department of Education has introduced a project, which includes borrowing laptops to help students study at home when schools are closed. There is also an offer to help families with an Internet connection. The majority of the society study and work from home, which means that the online world becomes as important as the real one.

We can definitely say that the COVID-19 greatly contributed to the educational revolution, which effects what we will see in the future. Nick Hillman, English higher education policy adviser emphasised: “A further positive impact of the present pandemic on higher education is the sudden embracing of online conferences and teaching technology. People all over the world can learn and teach to huge audiences at close to zero marginal cost. This will revolutionise the delivery of higher education and research.”

Tim Fenton, Director of Journalism, lecturer and journalist, said: “There are disadvantages to teaching online but it’s not been as difficult as I expected and there are some advantages. I miss direct interaction with individual students and their inability to form a team and respond collectively. That has made teaching of some teamwork aspects of journalism difficult. It can also make it more difficult to give students individually tailored support.”

The first-year university students have a completely different experience of studying than their older colleagues. Who knows, maybe the remote studying will be absolutely normal for future generations? Theoretically, online education gives a huge opportunity for students to study at any university around the world without moving to another country.

The pandemic can have a great impact on the way the higher education will work in the future, it could be more accessible, less expensive and extra effective. One of the trickiest questions is how to provide fair exams at home. Many educational establishments cancelled or postponed important exams but it is not the way out of this difficult situation.

We should treat the pandemic as a chance to improve or even dramatically change the educational system. Obviously, there are many issues, but they will not be solved overnight. Remote schooling can be a great opportunity for both, students and teachers, to develop new ways of studying and create new ways for easily accessible education.

Aleksandra Cupriak

Multimedia Journalism

6 months ago my life was completely different, I did not know my boyfriend yet and did not have any idea that coronavirus will change my life…

Now I live with my boyfriend, isolating at his house in the suburbs of London, far away from my family home.

The day when the University suspended face- to- face classes, my country, Poland has closed its borders. The only thing I could do was staying in the UK, waiting for the end of the coronavirus nightmare.

My boyfriend offered me to move to his house, due to my difficult situation. Exactly after 4 months of dating, we started living together.

Michael lives with his mother, who now has become my mother too… I appreciate her company because Angela was a lecturer at the University of Essex for many years. We spend lots of time talking about the University, viewing photos from my boyfriend’s childhood and watching Netflix. Angela gave me many useful tips about my studies and also my future journalistic career.

After 5 weeks of living with my boyfriend and his mum, I can only tell that I am the luckiest girl in the world, having them. Of course, our life does not look normal, even going shopping is not easy. Once, a policeman stopped us, warning that we should not go out together. That simple activity, like going for a walk, which previously seemed to me as a very basic one, has changed. Nowadays only one of us can do shopping. My last shopping lasted almost two hours, spending over 60 minutes in a long queue in front of a store.

I have constant contact with my family, who lives in Poland. Video calls have become a daily habit. To be honest, a few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to go back to my country.  Polish Government has organised a few emergency flights for Polish citizens who were abroad. I decided not to do it because it seemed to be very dangerous for me and my family.

What is more, after that flight I would have to be quarantined for two weeks, being isolated without my loved ones. The most responsible option for me was to stay with my boyfriend in the UK.

Living with Michael in that difficult for everybody time is very valuable for our relationship. We get to know each other better, trying out everyday situations.

As I know, we are not the first couple who started living together because of coronavirus pandemic. However, I believe that everything happens for a purpose. Our story could be completely different without isolation and lockdown. I am happy spending  quality time with my boyfriend. At least I have enough time to teach Michael Polish language. As he said: “I know exactly seventy- three words in Polish. One month of isolation more and I will be fluent!’

Colchester Arts Centre invites people through unusual, eclectic and radical art. However, due to coronavirus pandemic, the centre will have to adapt to the new reality, which includes many questions without answer.  

As Anthony Roberts, the Director of Colchester Arts Centre, said: ‘Our Art Centre is a performance venue. We have lots of music events, lots of jazz, folk, rap and pop music… We also present comedy and children shows, it is a very eclectic mix. Our ambition is to be show a radical new work, new choreographs, new bands and original material…’ 

The Director mentioned that presenting unusual artists and encouraging audience to experiment whilst taking risks is the Art Centre’s challenge. ‘We try to present not only native but international work. Colchester Art Centre encourages people to get to know new types of art, unusual, eclectic and radical pieces of work’, he added.

The Director explained the main goal of the Centre is to be useful for young people and to expand their horizons.  ‘The whole point of Colchester Art Centre is not to make profit, is not to make as much money as we can. The whole point is to give young people in Colchester wide range of arts and to introduce new things at the same time.’

Nowadays the whole world is struggling with coronavirus pandemic. When lockdown will be over, the Colchester Art Centre will be reopened, however, under some safe restrictions.

Anthony Roberts said: ‘If they do create rules that you can do work but you have to be 6 ft apart, if the audience has to be 6 ft apart, then we will do that. I would be very interested if they did produce some rules. It may be an unique artistic experience. That might be more creative and interesting for the audience.’

Even in times of lockdown, to keep people in touch with art, the Centre has produced a free podcast, available on their website.

The Director said that the lockdown is the time for him to analyse what the Centre will show in the future and to refresh their repertoire. ‘The whole situation has forced us to rethink lots of the ways of working.’, he added.

 A new outlook of the world, may improve creativity within our social behaviours, during another pandemic and help stop any prevention of new and known artists progressing within our communities.   

The Polish government has been working on the “Stop abortion” Act. Sex education will be forbidden at schools, as the other Act mentioned.

The project assumes abolishing the possibility of termination of pregnancy due to the high probability of severe and irreversible fatal defects.

The originator of the bill, Kaja Glodek, said:  “abortion is a pandemic far worse than coronavirus”.

The ‘’Stop abortion’’ Act arouse controversies since it was submitted in the Polish Parliament in 2017. In next few weeks the project will be considered by The Health Committee and The Social Policy and Family Committees.

The President Andrzej Duda said that he will sign the anti- abortion Act and also emphasized that the abortion will be treated in Polish justice system like a murder.

IPSOS survey conducted in 2019 on Polish citizens showed that 53% of respondents supports abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

The other Act, also introduced in Polish Parliament, assumes ban for sex education in Polish schools.

The Polish Ombudsman , Adam Bodnar, said: “The project prohibiting sex education limits the constitutional right to education, to freedom of education, to health protection, as well as freedom of expression’’.

The Act includes, among others, introducing a sentence of up to three years in prison for publicly promoting or approving sexual intercourse with children, also in connection with sex education.

Adam Bodnar said that sex education at school can counteract the sexual abuse of children.

The Ombudsman noted that the EU directive provides that EU Members should run educational programs to raise awareness and reduce the risk of children being victims of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation.

“We have a day of a series of barbaric projects. Projects to close us in the dungeons of the Middle Ages.’’ said the MP Beata Maciejewska.