Coronavirus: Isle of Man pupils and parents asked for remote learning views

Many children had to rely on online lessons during the coronavirus lockdown

The Manx government is to conduct a survey of parents and children to get a "better picture" of how remote learning worked during the coronavirus lockdown.

Schools were closed to most children from 23 March to 22 June, with lessons conducted using online resources.

Education Minister Alex Allinson said a survey would help schools provide "a far better alternative if there are further disruptions".

It will feed into a wider review by the Education Improvement Service.

Dr Allinson said the rapid closure of the schools had been "a bit of a wake-up call for education", but there had been "examples of excellence" across the island.

He said the survey, which would be anonymous to ensure people were not "held back in terms of voicing their opinions", would also identify where "people have struggled", which would allow schools to "bring that benchmark up".

He added that while schools had tried to "maximise the time" children had back in the classroom before the end of term, it was "incredibly difficult" to quantify how much education had been lost during the lockdown.

Joel Smith of the Education Improvement Service said the review would provide "models which the department and schools can use" to "continue progress with a blended-learning approach in the future".