Journal of Xidian University https://doi.org/10.37896/jxu14.

6/047 ISSN No:1001-2400

Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Higher Education

Dr Ram Mehar*
Associate Professor, Department of Education, USOL, Panjab University, Chandigarh
Neelu Arora**
Research Scholar, Department of Education, Panjab University, Chandigarh

Abstract
The pandemic has compelled universities for online courses. This is just one step along the road to a new
educational paradigm. Economies have shuttered around the world and education systems have also
battered in developing and developed countries due to the pandemic. Right now, video-conferencing apps
like zoom and webex are throwing universities a lifeline. However, lecturers are still struggling to
maintain the same depth of engagement with students they could have in a classroom setting. The
pandemic has been a great leveler in a way, giving all stakeholders (educators, learners, policy-makers
and society at large) in developed and developing countries a better understanding of our current
education systems’ vulnerabilities and shortcomings. Covid-19 has struck our education system like a
lightning bolt and shaken it to its core. Just as the First Industrial Revolution forged today’s system of
education, we can expect a different kind of educational model to emerge from Covid-19(Kandri, 2020)

Keywords: Higher Education and Covid-19 Pandemic.

Introduction
WHO has declared Covid-19 a pandemic disease (World Health Organization,
2020). It is a need of the hour to do global coordinated effort to stop the further spread of
the virus. A pandemic is defined as a disease that affects an exceptionally high proportion of
the population and occurs over a wide geographic area (Marriam Webster Dictionary, 2020).
The H1N1 flu pandemic was the last pandemic reported in the world in 2009.
A group of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause was identified on 31
December 2019, in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province in China, which was reported to the
World Health Organization. In January 2020, a previously unknown new virus was
identified (World Health Organization, 2020; Wikipedia, 2020) subsequently named the
2019 novel corona virus, and samples obtained from cases and analysis of the virus’
genetics indicated that this was the cause of the outbreak. This novel corona virus was
named Corona virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) by in February 2020 (World Health
Organization, 2020). The virus is referred to as SARS-CoV-2 and the associated disease is
Covid-19 (Public Health England, 2020). As of 15 May 2020, over 4,444,670 cases have
been identified globally in 188 countries with a total of over 302,493 fatalities and
1,588,858 were recovered. As of 24 May 2020, 5,335,868 cases have been identified

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worldwide with the global deaths of 341,513. In India 132,755 cases have been identified
till 24 May 2020 with a total fatalities of 3,899 cases.
Educational institutions are facing detrimental effects due to the near-total closures.
Approximately 1.725 billion learners are currently affected in response to the Covid-19
pandemic. According to UNICEF monitoring, 186 countries are currently implementing
nationwide closures and 8 are implementing local closures, impacting about 98.5 percent of the
world's student population (UNESCO, 2020). During the second week of March, state
governments across the country began shutting down schools and colleges temporarily as a
measure to contain the spread of the novel corona virus. Still there is no certainty when they will
reopen. The education sector are facing a critical time for board examinations, nursery school
admissions, entrance tests of various universities and competitive examinations, among others,
are all held during this period. Closures of higher educational institutions will not only have a
short-term impact on the continuity of learning for more than 285 million young learners in India
but also going to face economic and societal consequences. The structure of schooling and
learning, including teaching and assessment methodologies, was the first to be affected by these
closures. Only a small number of private schools could adopt online teaching methods. On the
contrary their low-income private and government school counterparts have completely shut
down for not having access to e-learning solutions. The students, in addition to the missed
opportunities for learning, no longer have access to healthy meals during this time and are
subject to economic and social stress. The pandemic has disturbed the higher education sector
which is a critical factor of a country’s economic future. Many Indian students enroll in
universities abroad, especially in countries worst affected by the pandemic, the US, UK,
Australia and China and have now been locked from leaving these countries. If the situation
persists, in the long run, a decline in the demand for international higher education is expected
(Choudhary, 2020).
Impact of Covid-19 on Global Economy Structure
The political, social, economic, religious and financial structures of the whole world were
disturbed by the outbreak of pandemic Covid-19. Many experts on economic and financial
matters have warned about the worsening condition of global economic and financial structure.
World’s topmost economies such as the US, China, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and many
others are at the verge of collapse. In just a week 3.3 million Americans applied for

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unemployment and a week later another 6.6 million people started searching for jobs. When it
comes to the human cost of the corona virus pandemic it is immeasurable therefore all countries
need to work together with cooperation and coordination to protect the human beings as well as
limit the economic damages. For instance, the lockdown has restricted various businesses such as
travelling to contain the virus consequently this business is coming to an abrupt halt globally
(Mahar, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic and associated economic disruptions come at a
challenging time for the higher education sector. Flat enrollments, intense competition over
students, increasing tuition discounting, rising costs and shifting demand preferences were
among the myriad challenges. United States institutions were already managing. In addition,
approximately one in five private institutions was facing substantial financial risk before the
onset of the global pandemic.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, institutions have been consumed with operational
triage. They canceled study-abroad programs, cut athletic seasons short and requested students
leave campus for an indeterminate period, among numerous other decisions. Within a week,
almost all classroom learning shifted to a remote delivery model. With the most immediate triage
completed, it is time to ask, “What should we expect?
What to Expect, as a Result of the Great Recession on Higher Education Enrollment
In an unprecedented confluence of events, discerning what comes next requires some
speculation. Typically, higher education enrollments are counter-cyclical, but it is unclear how
that will evolve in this crisis. From a planning perspective, it is prudent to assume that:
(i) Ancillary revenues derived from summer programs will likely disappear.
(ii) Institutions may face other financial challenges due to refunds associated with housing and
dining and online learning, lost revenue from canceled university programs and events, and
increased operating costs (e.g., switching to remote delivery).
(iii) The impact on international students, while unknown, is likely to be substantial and
negative.
(iv) Student retention rates for many institutions may decline due to one or more of the
following reasons:
(a) The emotional hold on remote students is weaker.
(b) Many of those students will experience subpar remote learning.
(c) Many parents and students will view their current institution as an inessential luxury.

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(d) Absolute financial strain (barring significant intervention by the government) will place
higher education out of reach for some students.
(v) Fall semester first-time, full-time enrollment, while not something that most institutions
could take for granted even before COVID-19, is even more unpredictable now.
(vi) Campus visits, which helped students and families make decisions, are no longer an option.
Some students may decide to postpone full-time college, especially if their families’
circumstances demand it; or students may opt to work and study part-time instead.
(vii) Other institutions will recruit and discount right up to convocation, including students
already committed to or enrolled, in another institution.
(viii) Many students may elect to enroll in online programs that allow them to be employed or be
at home with family due to the unstable environment.
(ix) Institutions that rely on endowment returns to support their operating model will see the
value of that endowment reduced in the short to medium term and must anticipate higher
volatility for the foreseeable future.
Prior to the crisis, increasing competition, changing student demand and rising financial
pressures were driving inevitable change to the higher education sector and forcing mergers and
closures on some institutions. The crisis will accelerate these trends. Revenue losses, combined
with potentially increased operating costs, could overturn the traditional higher education
business model and lead to a sector shake-up (Lytle, Lundy, Ladd & Reynolds, 2020).
Consequences of Closure in Education Institute
 Distance Learning: Online learning has become a critical lifeline for education.
Technology can enable teachers and students to access specialized materials well beyond
textbooks, in multiple formats and in ways that can bridge time and space (OECD, 2020). In
response to the pandemic, many schools and colleges moved to online distance learning via
platforms like Zoom. The organization has created framework to guide an education response to
the COVID-19 Pandemic for distance learning.
 Unequal access to Technology: Lack of access to technology or fast, reliable internet
access can prevent students in rural areas and from disadvantaged families. Less access to
technology and bad internet connectivity is an obstacle to continued learning, especially for
students from disadvantaged families. To aid in slowing the transmission of COVID-19,
hundreds of libraries have temporarily closed. In the United States, numerous major cities

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announced public library closures, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and New York
City, affecting 221 libraries (UNESCO, 2020). For students without internet at home, this
increases the difficulty of keeping up with distance learning.
 Unequal access to Educational Resources: Lack of limitations and exceptions to
copyright can also have an impact on the ability of students to access the textbooks and materials
they need to study (Hauck & Stanglin, 2020). Many initiatives were taken to grant that students
and teachers can have access to open educational resources, or understand copyright limitations.
The International Council for Open and Distance Education issued a special website to provide
webinars, tips for online teaching and resources for teachers (Vézina & Green, 2020). In New
Zealand, a group of publishers agreed to allow for virtual public readings of their materials from
libraries and classrooms (ICDE, 2020). A similar agreement took place in Australia, where the
Australian Publishers Association, the Australian Library and Information Association and
the Australian Society of Authors agreed on a set of exceptional measures to allow libraries to
provide educational content.
Battling University Lockdown through MOOCs Courses and Online Education
Universities across the globe are being shut down due to the risk of COVID 19 impacting
the normal academic schedules. As prominent universities like Harvard, Cornell, MIT stopped
their classroom-based instruction, the online education company Coursera has come forward to
compensate for the loss. Coursera has offered to provide access to 100 American universities to
its 3800 online courses free of cost. In India, the University of Delhi has asked its faculty to send
the relevant e-resources to its students to minimize the impact. Dr. Durgesh Tripathi,
Coordinator, MOOCs, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU),
New Delhi opines that “MOOCs courses were begun with the aim of democratization of higher
education. In this critical situation, MOOCS is a viable alternative to deal with geopolitical and
geoclimatic situations like COVID 19. There is an urgent need for universities as well as students
to adopt and integrate such courses in the curriculum because it has the potential to increase the
engagement between students, academia and the educational institutions to a larger scale.”
Dr. Tripathi runs a highly popular interdisciplinary MOOCs course ‘Society and Media’ on the
Swayam portal. He believes that the integration of technology with education can be
transformational for society. Ministry of HRD (Human Resource Development) is responsible
for introducing the important initiatives SWAYAM and E-PG Pathshala to help Government of

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India to cater quality free of cost e-resources to students at the higher education level (Tripathi,
2020).
Challenges
 Difficulty in Syllabus Completion: It becomes very difficult to achieve the target by online
teaching because of low connectivity, less availability of resources and non-availability of
learners at the same time.
 Practical Subjects: Science, Home Science, Physical Education and other subjects which
required training and activities in real life situations, would face a lot of difficulty as it
requires trained mentors for instruction otherwise learners will face detrimental effects.
 Research Work: It needs data collection, lab work, deep and elaborative work in actual
situations which is impossible to do in available circumstances.
 Rural Area Connectivity: Quality of data connectivity in rural areas is not feasible so it
causes many problems to the students who reside there in grabbing the education.
 Hostel and Library Facilities: These facilities will be very dangerous for the students during
covid-19 pandemic because of crowded atmosphere and shared rooms or washrooms.
 Need for Orientation and Training of Teachers to become Techno-savvy: All the teachers do
not have the mastery to operate technology, so there is need to contemplate about the
prevailing situations and organize webinar, workshops and lecture series to train the teachers.
Recommendations
1. Examine the Readiness and Choose the Most Relevant Tools: Decide on the use high-
technology and low-technology solutions based on the reliability of local power supplies,
internet connectivity, and digital skills of teachers and students. This could range through
integrated digital learning platforms, video lessons, MOOCs, to broadcasting through radios and
televisions.
2. Ensure Inclusion of the Distance Learning Programmes: Implement measures to ensure
that students including those with disabilities or from low-income backgrounds have access to
distance learning programmes, if only a limited number of them have access to digital devices.
Consider temporarily decentralizing such devices from computer labs to families and support
them with internet connectivity.
3. Protect Data Privacy and Data Security: Assess data security when uploading data or
educational resources to web spaces, as well as when sharing them with other organizations or

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individuals. Precautions should be taken to ensure that the use of applications and platforms does
not violate students’ data privacy.
4. Prioritize Solutions to Address Psychosocial Challenges before Teaching: Mobilize
available tools to connect schools, parents, teachers, and students with each other. Psychosocial
challenges can be addressed by creating communities to ensure regular human interactions, and
by enabling social caring measures.
5. Plan the Study Schedule of the Distance Learning Programmes: Organize discussions
with stakeholders to examine the possible duration of school closures and decide whether the
distance learning programme should focus on providing new knowledge or increase students’
knowledge of prior lessons. Plan the schedule depending on the situation of the affected zones,
level of studies, needs of student’s needs, and availability of parents.
6. Provide Support to Teachers and Parents on the Use of Digital Tools: Organize brief
training or orientation sessions for teachers and parents as well, if monitoring and facilitation are
needed. Guide teachers for the use of internet data if they are required to provide live streaming
of lessons.
7. Blended Appropriate Approaches and Limit the Number of Applications and
Platforms: Blended tools or media that are available for most students, both for synchronous
communication and lessons, and for asynchronous learning. Avoid downloading and testing too
many applications or platforms to teach students.
8. Develop Distance Learning Rules and Monitor Students’ Learning Process: Rules
regarding distance learning must be discussed with parents and students. Design evaluative
procedures such as questions or exercises to monitor closely students’ learning process. Avoid
overloading parents by requesting them to scan and send students’ feedback and try to use
convenient tools to support submission of students’ feedback.
9. Define the Duration of Distance Learning Units Based on Students’ Self-Regulation
Skills: Keep a coherent timing according to the level of the students’ self-regulation and meta-
cognitive abilities especially for live streaming classes. Preferably, 20 minutes are appropriate
for covering the unit for primary school students and 40 minutes for secondary school students.
10. Create Communities and Enhance Connection: Communities of mentors an47d
guardians should be created to address sense of loneliness or helplessness, facilitate sharing of

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experience and discussion on coping strategies when facing learning difficulties (Burgess &
Sievertsen, 2020).

Conclusion
The Covid-19 pandemic compelled public health officials’ to take step of social distancing
which could help to flatten the infection curve and reduce total fatalities from the disease, which
results in quickly led to the closure of universities and colleges around the world. Teaching is
moving online, on an untested and unprecedented scale. Student assessments are also moving
online, with a lot of trial and error and uncertainty which results in detrimental effects on quality
education and economy but brings a light of hope in the field of online learning. However, this
condition creates a situation for educators not only for observing and understanding the
phenomenon of emergency e-learning but to become technology savvy.

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