Since the outbreak of covid-19 virus in November 2019 in China, the pandemic has significantly strained the healthcare system of most member states, with most cases been reported in the US, European countries and the Central America. So far, it is estimated that , upto 55.6 M covid cases and upto 1.34 M deaths have been reported globally. From these statistics, it also estimated that over 34M people have recovered from the virus.
Covid-19 have greatly impacted the economy, with almost all the sectors of the economy being affected by the pandemic. The educational systems have felt the pinch too, with a number of schools and colleges nearing a total shutdown.
Here are the effects of covid-19 on the educational system;
Public funding on education
Before the eruption of the covid-19 pandemic, upto 11% of public funding had been budgeted for funding education in the OECD countries. This percentage has since been adjusted to cater for emerging need to fund learning institutions. So, far most countries have adopted digital learning, and some institutions that still conduct in-person learning, such institutions have to budget for safety and cleaning equipment’s to enable them conduct learning under the new learning guidelines imposed by different member states.
Foreign Students Mobility
About 6% of tertiary institutions are international students. Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected learning at the tertiary institutions. Most learning institutions have been forced to either close down learning institutions or adjust to virtual learning. Foreign students have been left in a dilemma has to whether to go back to their mother countries or hang around and anticipate when institutions could open for learning. Funding model of some tertiary institutions have been hugely impacted since most foreign students pays more fees than domestic students. Mobility of international students have minimized international exposure and their input into the international job market.
Learning during school closure
There is a surge in the use of virtual learning amongst most learning institutions in the world. Colleges have embraced technology to deliver real-time classes through virtual meetings platforms. The courses are well packed to enable students learn with minimal supervision at the same time allowing the lectures to monitor learning amongst students.
Digital learning preparedness
The pandemic has caught most learning institutions off-guard. Schools and colleges have been forced to train the lectures on the preparedness to handle the digital learning platform. Globally, over 60% of teachers have since been trained on th use of digital learning to support learning amongst students. As at now, over 36% of teachers have since participated in online classes and seminars.
Institutions reopening
Learning institutions had to strategize on how they are going to conduct learning amongst their students. Several parameters need to be factored in to adapt to this new reality. Social distancing in learning institutions such as posses’ challenges on available resources such as, availability of enough teachers to handle sparsely distribution of students in a classroom. Schools also needs to adjust their learning environment has classrooms can no longer accommodate the reduced number of students. Some institutions plan to conduct classes in shifts to accommodate the new covid-19 guidelines for schools or some of them using healgen rapid covid-19 antigen self-test for quick test of their staff and students to shift them for treatment.
Decline in students’ achievements
Most countries educational systems have been affected and both parents and teachers must adapt to the new learning model to equip learners with knowledge. As a result of virtual learning, student’s classwork achievements have declined due to minimal interactions and close supervision between students and teachers. The pandemic has forced abrupt readjustment in the learning institutions, and this can be witnessed by the teachers scrambling to get acquainted to the new digital learning platform. Parents are equally at a fix as most of them are reported to have lost jobs and some have to cope up with their jobs and sacrifice their time to monitor their students learning.
Bottomline
It is believed that, the pandemic impact will last longer way after the pandemic is over. As much as pandemic, has caused huge negative impact on the economy, a few industries like IT technology has blossomed as most work can be done remotely including learning. The use of technology has as enabled learning through virtual learning. Government institutions have also engaged various learning institutions by providing stimulus for learners, thus ensuring learning continues despite the challenges posed by covid-19. Keep yourself alert with latest happenings on this pandemic from News Cceit, you can catch up with almost any latest news from globally.