An online learning-assistance platform allows final-year school students to prepare for their final exams with the help of pedagogy students.
HELPING FINAL-YEAR PUPILS
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Siauliai City Municipality, Vilnius University (VU), and the Siauliai Academy of Vilnius University (SAVU) combined their efforts to assist final-year school students. A learning assistance platform – Siauliai Grows – was established to help these students prepare for their state-level final examinations. Great emphasis was placed on universal participation in the project, ensuring that all pupils had the same access to high-quality, free assistance from tutors.
AN ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORM
Between 10 May and 23 June, students at VU and SAVU provided high-quality, free learning assistance to the final-year pupils in the region of Siauliai, Lithuania. The tutors included teachers in training as well as students studying subjects taught in secondary schools (e.g. history, biology, mathematics). The fully functional platform was set up in just 10 days and was well-suited to the pandemic context, as it also allowed tutors from other cities and countries to participate.
STUDENTS ASSIST PUPILS
The initiative has three primary goals: 1) to provide free, high-quality learning assistance to final year school students while they prepare for their final examinations, which determine their prospects for accessing higher education; 2) to provide students interested in becoming teachers or tutors with teaching experience (this was especially important, as their regular internships had been cancelled due to pandemic- related school closures in Lithuania), and 3) to ensure equal opportunities for school-leavers to receive professional assistance, irrespective of their socioeconomic status.
