TEACHERS AND PARENTS EXPERIENCES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health issue and has a major impact on education in different ways. Soon after the Republic of Serbia had confirmed the first case of the novel coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, all educational institutions were enforced to rapidly convert all their courses to emergency remote teaching and learning as a mitigation strategy against the risk caused by COVID-19. Such protection measures posed a unique challenge for all the participants, students and their parents, teachers, and institutions in general. The research analyses of parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of the applied educational measures aim to explore the transition from regular to online teaching in Serbian schools. Data were collected through surveys with 365 parents and 289 class teachers in primary and secondary schools. The main conclusion indicates that the implementation of online learning during the pandemic has been especially problematic and challenging for families. Various problems occurred regarding both teachers' and pupils'/parents' points of view. Some of them include: 1) internet usage, 2) pupils' inadequate organization, 3) unnecessary parents' engagement and 4) planning, implementation, and evaluation of learning.