The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted the education of children and students globally. More than 120 countries including South Africa, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, have shut their schools. 

This means that more than half the world’s student population – 1,2 billion children – are forced to stay away from school and universities because of a virus.

However, schools remain open for younger children in Sweden. Singapore has halved class sizes, instituted strict hygiene measures, and staggered break periods to reduce playground contact. 

During the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone the government provided educational radio programmes to listeners five days a week while schools were closed, maintaining a link to the curriculum for the duration. 

The Goodthingsguy published weblinks which Jean Parnell suggested learners can use to stay abreast with learning. However, not all learners have the means to access online learning.

Vodacom’s e-School platform is already used by almost 900 000 learners. E-School is free for all Vodacom subscribers and carries content in all 11 official languages from Grade R to 12. Content includes assignments, quizzes and learning videos that are fully aligned with the CAPS curriculum.

Unesco reminds us that back in 2015, Bill Gates warned in a prescient Ted talk that the greatest risk of a global catastrophe would be a highly infectious virus which we were not ready to fight.With restricted online access, the question is what can South African citizens, publishers and booksellers do to assist?