Yes – and No. Physically the AISA office in Nairobi is closed, but all AISA staff are currently working from home. Some of you may know that several AISA staff have been working remotely for some years already, so we have all the structures we need in place to continue as normal. We can continue in this way for as long as necessary with no interruption to our member school support.
Here at AISA we realised fairly quickly that the amount of information and resources being shared around COVID-19 was becoming overwhelming for many educators, co-professionals and school leaders in our region. So AISA recently launched this site, the COVID-19 Support Portal. The portal has streamlined and curated the news, resources, communications and networking forums needed to support our members. It is updated several times each day and is a one-stop-shop for trusted COVID-19 information and communications needs.
AISA has also established a well-being support network with opportunities for our members to reach out to professionals (via Zoom calls) and each other for support during this challenging time. Full details on how you can access these resources are also on our COVID-19 Support Portal.
Regrettably not. This was scheduled for May 1-3, but with the disruptions caused by COVID-19 we have had to cancel this event for this year. Many AISA school heads wrote to us expressing their disappointment that this was not able to go ahead, but all fully understood why we needed to postpone it. We are looking at putting some of the SHR sessions online in the next school year and hope to run the face-to-face event once again in May 2021.
Yes! AISA has been running online webinars for some time. We are now developing a programme of Extended Professional Learning Institutes (ePLIs) that all staff in our member schools will be able to access from early next year. We think running professional learning online this way is very effective for an organization like AISA since we can extend the depth of your learning over time, expand the range of topics covered, and increase the accessibility of professional learning for you, our members. By now, many of our educators have become familiar with how effective online learning can be implemented in their classes – if this is well designed and supported. AISA is partnering with some of the worlds best online programme developers to re-work our PL programme for next year. This approach will also save on the cost of travel, help save the environment, as well as reducing time out of school. More about this soon.
Generally yes. Any support services we can offer, within the limits placed on us all by COVID-19, will continue to be provided. Those programmes that involve supporting the travel of staff or students between AISA schools may need to be revised. If you’re not sure of the support services AISA offers you can find them here. AISA is also looking to adapt some of these to fit better the new realities we live within a COVID-19 world. Like many of you, we are not exactly sure what this might look like – but we have always been an adaptable organisation and trying out new things is no problem for us.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@dev.aisa.africa
The Association of International Schools in Africa is dedicated to serving its members throughout Africa during this challenging time. Please let us know if you require additional or specific information, resources and or support, and we will endeavour to assist you as soon as possible.