‘Nightmare’: NSW high school students prepare for online learning

As the NSW lockdown rages on, high school students are bracing for a return to online learning on Tuesday. The Feed spoke to several students, in their final years of school, who are concerned about their education being impacted.

Eighteen-year-old Putri spoke with The Feed about the challenges of online learning in her final year of high school. Source: The Feed

As trial exams approach, high school students undergoing lockdown in Greater Sydney are nervously gearing up for a return to online learning.

Syrian-Australian student Aalyssaa is completing Year 12 at TAFE and lives in Narellan, close to COVID hot spots in southwest Sydney. 

When NSW students were forced to endure online learning at the end of last year, Aalyssaa said she “struggled a lot”, particularly with her major works.

With her five siblings also learning from home, Aalyssaa said she felt unproductive as she began her first official term of Year 12. 

“I absolutely despise online learning,” Aalyssaa told The Feed.

“I feel like I didn't learn anything at all, I didn't retain any of that information,” she said.

With lockdown forcing students in Greater Sydney back online for their classes, Aalyssaa is anxious about how a move away from face-to-face learning will impact her final marks.

Aalyssaa is hoping to study architecture, with her chosen university course only accepting those with ATARs over 90.

“It’s like all our hard work is just completely gone down, straight down the drain, like all that time and effort and dedication,” she said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Source: AAP

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she hopes online learning will only be a one-week event.

However, she warned that might change if case numbers remained high.

“Schools are safe but what is not safe is having hundreds of thousands of people leaving home at the same time, dropping kids off, picking kids up,” she told reporters on Sunday.

“Obviously, as a government, our priority would be to return to face-to-face learning but only when it’s safe for the broader community - we will obviously take health advice on that.”

Students on campus pre-lockdown at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Source: SBS

Echoing the thoughts of many of her peers, Aalyssaa has started a petition calling on universities to offer easier entry for high school students who studied in 2021.

“We've all suffered, not just with our results and studying but with anxiety and just getting really stressed out and frustrated with this whole situation,” she said.

The petition has reached almost 500 signatures, with one person who signed commenting, “this year's Year 12 cohort has endured two years of unfair disadvantages and should get easier access into University.”

“I’m signing [because I want a decent ATAR but this year pulled me down,” another person commented.

Year 10 student Arlen lives in Fairfield in southwest Sydney - an area that’s seen a growing number of COVID-19 cases over the past week.

When asked about the prospect of returning to online learning, he said it sounded like a “nightmare”.

“There's no motivation to do a whole school’s day worth of work at home,” he told The Feed.

“With the last major lockdown, they’d threaten us [to do work] but because there were so many people that didn't want to do it, it didn’t really mean much,” he said.

‘The impact on my mental health has been the hardest’

Year 12 student Putri is also dreading the return to online learning, which she claims has impacted her mental health.

Putri lives on NSW’s Central Coast and told The Feed during lockdown last year, she saw her grades drop and her mental health also plummet. 

“At the start of lockdown last year, my mental health was at its lowest. I had no motivation,” Putri said.

“After the first lockdown, [many] students in our year started seeing our school counsellor, including me,” she added.

Putri said her mental health suffered during online learning last year. Source: Supplied

Putri’s dream is to study film and marketing at the University of Technology Sydney, but she is “worried” her ATAR won’t be high enough.

“I really do hope we get some kind of advantage, whether that’s bonus points for our ATAR or just lowering the mark we need to get into our university course.”

The Feed has contacted peak body Universities Australia for comment.

In a statement last year, Universities Australia acknowledged the “enormous disruption” to Year 12 students caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Universities...will be looking to provide flexibility to students, through wider use of special consideration as well as other mechanisms,” the statement read.

“All universities will be ready and willing to talk with students about their individual situation.”

“If in doubt, students should get in touch with the admissions team at the university they are hoping to attend.”

If you or someone you know requires assistance with issues of mental health, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636