As schools and education institutions have had to close their doors to students and educators because of Covid-19 restrictions, cancer patients who usually miss out on school due to various reasons now have the opportunity to resume their studies through online learning.

“Since I am in hospital all the time, online schooling has made such a huge difference in my current situation,” 14-year old cancer patient Rebecca Zammit Lupi has said.

She expressed that having the opportunity to join in on lessons with her friends is one of the best feelings in the world.

“Sometimes I might not feel up to the online lessons or I may just feel too tired to focus” she said, adding however, that online schooling has given her the opportunity to resume her studies as the recorded lessons allow her to review the material covered, and if needs be go over it a second time until she has understood.

Another advantage of online learning is that “I’m able to keep in contact with my teachers and let them know how I’m doing,” Zammit Lupi said.

Before schools closed, and before online-schooling measures were put in place, it was very difficult for her to catch up with the material and explanations being covered at school.  “Some of my friends would try to help by sending any notes the teachers gave out in class, but it was very hard to understand certain content without a proper explanation.”

She said that she missed studying and learning a lot, and added that after she was diagnosed, she wanted to continue learning, however data protection issues prevented her request from joining the class interactively to view the whiteboard and hear her teacher’s voice, even though “I know that it is possible and has been done in other countries.”

Online schooling has also helped alleviate some of Zammit Lupi’s worries and said that she has “been much happier and less stressed” than she was before. She was concerned about how she would manage to catch up in time for her O-levels which will take place next year.

“At least now I won’t need to catch up with much from the last term during summer, but I’ll just have to try acquire and understand the explanations I missed in the first two terms,” she said.

Zammit Lupi hopes that the resource tool which has helped so many students and educators continue with their teaching and education will still be available in summer as that would allow her to have access and maybe even take some private online lessons with her teachers.

As medical treatment has kept her away from school, from seeing her friends and teachers, while it also meant not being able to learn or study for six months, such a situation has caused a lot of stress when thinking about next year as there was also the possibility of not being able to sit for her O-Levels.

Asked whether she would like online-schooling to continue after the COVID-19 situation passes Zammit Lupi remarked that she “definitely wants it to continue, “as it has made such a difference in my life and the lives of others who are in the same situation.”

Online-schooling would not only help students who are seriously ill but it will also help others who “might just have a common illness like a cold but won’t be able to attend school for a couple of days. This would allow them to catch up from home with the provided recordings or material.

Zammit Lupi explained that in her case, even if schools open for the next scholastic year, she still might not be able to attend school. Chemotherapy makes you immunocompromised, even six months after finishing treatment. This means that I could easily catch an infection from another student and I still wouldn’t be strong enough to fight it on my own.”

She added that she will eventually undergo an operation in Oxford which will mean that she will be away from home for around six weeks. Therefore, if online schooling remains available “I’d love to continue some school work even from a different country.”

Her father, Darrin Zammit Lupi agreed and expressed his belief that online-schooling should definitely continue after the COVID-19 situation passes as it allows students to continue with their studies, even if they can’t physically be present in the classroom.

Online-schooling for his daughter “is personally one positive thing that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic.” For several months, her father said that they “tried to set up some form of schooling, and although school administrations and teachers were very helpful, we didn’t manage to get something set up that would work.”

“Prior to COVID-19 the Education authorities would send a teacher to visit the Rainbow Ward on a regular basis, however, this was geared towards primary school level patients, and not teenagers like Rebecca who are preparing for their O-levels,” Zammit Lupi said.  

“Rebecca is now able to virtually attend classes with the rest of her classmates. Nothing beats being physically present in a classroom, but this is the next best thing.”