Público：Online classes, uncertain exams, a different summer. What is it like to finish high school in covid-19?
This is an interview with five middle school students (17 years old) from all over Portugal to understand how they experienced the COVID-19 crisis and the impact on life and school.
Catarina Gomes, a student of the Department of Social Economics from Escola Secundária de Penafiel (school name):
Carolina Morganheira, a visual arts student from Escola Secundária de Vendas Novas (school name):
"I can't meet the friends I made appointments with. I am all forced to cancel the plan."
"The process of teaching online is confusing. I will definitely spend at least half an hour to successfully enter the course channel. Some classmates even enter at the last minute."
"Because I haven't decided where to go in the future, for me, the more time I have, the better."
Afonso Almeida, a visual arts student from Escola Secundária Diogo de Gouveia (school name):
"In the course of the past few days, all the classes are talking about the same topic-will the course be changed to online courses? Will the national exams be carried out as scheduled, postponed or cancelled?
"This is the first time I have my own plan. I want to travel, I want to work, but now it seems I have to cancel. I am also worried about future air traffic control."
Sofia Domingues, a science and technology student from Escola Secundária Júlio Dinis (school name):
"Because it is not possible to supervise the exam face to face, many teachers changed the exam assessment into a homework format. Out of the teachers' understanding and the feasibility of the assessment, we were not impacted much."
"We have a class of 30 people, (before being affected by the epidemic) we even have to find chairs and bring them to the classroom."
"In Ovar (that has been declared to be in a "public disaster" situation), people's lives are not easy. School facilities are limited, and no space or time-based isolation can be achieved at school. Remote teaching must be adopted."
The pilot project brought confusion: Her classmates are still taking physical education classes and their grades are not included in the higher education enrollment standards (due to the epidemic); However, the experimental school she studied in evaluated the sports performance last year (the eleventh grade). She believes this is an unequal treatment: "These new regulations have affected my access to higher education. "The school said that they were still in a state where "no response could be made."
Nuno Barbosa from the language and humanities major of Escola Básica e Secundária Bento Rodrigues (school name):
"Personally, I prefer to online classes. Although currently in my area, face-to-face teaching is still one of the options."
"Some of my classmates cannot use computers and the Internet, and the school cannot provide enough equipment to support all students."
"I am still reviewing the content of the exam and waiting for the news (whether the national exam is going on schedule)."
"I want to go to Porto to study management anyway, no matter how the schedule may change."
