Education During Covid-19 Pandemic

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 Education During Covid-19 Pandemic

Introduction

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak has posed serious concerns to global

education systems. Many schools in more than 100 countries worldwide were closed to

contain COVID-19. This unscheduled closure of schools left billions of learners out of school

(Onyema et al., 2020). The closure of schools has increased the gap in the global education

sector. Despite the pandemic being novel, it has diverse effects on humanity. It has created

educational disruptions and very difficult to manage global health concerns. The closure of

schools and associated economic and health problems create significant challenges for both

teachers and students. The public education system was not prepared to deal with this

pandemic's situation, which will have a significant effect since there are no facilities to ensure

continuity of teaching and learning during the schools' shutdown.

While we do not know the exact effects of this pandemic, it is clear that students' academic

performance and their developmental skills have worsened during this pandemic. Many

students who struggle to learn and thrive effectively in school find it difficult during the

pandemic (García & Weiss, 2020). The pandemic has affected the world's student population

to a great extent, and this has led to many countries rethinking alternative ways to provide

education to ensure continuity of learning. For this continuity to occur, most countries opted

for online education through online platforms, e-learning, and information and

communication technologies. This step has led to a rapid shift that was unplanned in the

education sector, provided various opportunities, drew attention to existing and new

differences, and gave rise to many challenges.

This abrupt shift to online learning has forced many teachers worldwide to deliver their

online teaching using various new tools without proper training, proper support, and lack of

enough preparation. However, this new technology will lead to inclusion and alternative
education of marginalized, rural, and less advantaged groups by providing them with new

learning and participation ways. Although most scholars emphasize the importance of global

education, global awareness has been absent in the United States' public-school curriculum

(Yoon, 2020). Global awareness has, therefore, been included in the social studies

curriculum. 

Stefanie Chambers (2002) findings are significant in the future of minority inclusion in

making educational policies. The policy intends to create increased flexibility, although it

will not significantly affect the academically struggling schools. The increased number of

charter schools and the state takeover suggests that states will start with small changes before

making drastic changes that will promote improvements (Chambers, 2002). Therefore, most

struggling schools will continue having limited resources and high pressure.

According to Chambers, changing the election structure will make a difference in the

centralization of governance, which may decrease the representation of minorities, resulting

in decreased opportunities for the parents in the minority group to participate in school

decisions (Chambers, 2002). Most findings have found that bureaucrats and government are

quick to blame who delivers the service rather than the policy that informs the service. As

noted in her studies, Chicago Schools had experienced many problems because of poor

physical facilities, financial problems, and low student scores. Therefore, there was a need to

appoint a school board that would direct accountability to city governance. 

Multicultural Education Concerns

According to Margaret Sutton's (2005) journal on "The Globalization of Multicultural

Education," multicultural education involves educating stunts about their social identity as

well as the identity of others. Scholars of multiculturalism conclude that it is a social activity

for reforming the educational sector previously thought to grow out of civil rights in the U.S

(Sutton, 2005). Therefore, multicultural education has been emphasized during predicaments,
such as the new COVID-19 pandemic. Its significance has reformed and led to

acknowledging the impact of COVID-19 on the development of multicultural communication

in online learning.

Multicultural online learning received criticism and faced prejudice, basically due to

stereotypes that have been there since the beginning of online education. However, during

this pandemic, teachers had easier work in their preparation for online classes because they

had prior knowledge about the cultural backgrounds of their students (Dautbašić, &

Saračević, 2020). Multiculturalism in online classes was advanced through different learning

material that helped students of different cultures be involved in online discussions.

The Concept of Online Education

Technology has a great impact on education in the 21st Century. It modified the teacher's

teaching methods, such as distance learning, machine learning, and remote learning. Most

education is digital, and therefore students, parents, and teachers have a challenge for this

transition (Onyema et al., 2020). Online education's success depends on factors such as good

internet connections, digital skills, learning software, and availability and access to

technology. With the increased internet and mobile technologies, online education provides a

bridge for the education gaps. Therefore, the challenges imposed by COVID-19 can be

transformed into opportunities to advance digital capabilities and problem-solving skills. For

instance, a major positive impact of COVID-19 is that students could learn from their peers,

bonded over their cultures and ethnic backgrounds more than they did during the physical

classes.

Research Methodology

Self-prepared questionnaires were administered online using online survey platforms due

to lockdown. Secondary data were obtained from journals, newspapers, and media reports.

From the various researches done, it has been proven that COVID-19 impacted the
development of multicultural education in online classes. It also found that poor digital skills,

poor electricity, unavailability and accessibility, digital divide, network issues, lack of

training, resistance to change, inadequate facilities, and lack of funding were major barriers to

online education during the pandemic (Onyema et al., 2020), leading to decreased

opportunities for those in rural areas and also the less privileged students.

The future of Education after COVID-19

Many schools remain closed as the new year 2021 begins, and therefore there is a need to

think through if we need to meet the pandemic's challenges. It will be critical to identify

various issues and the steps to be taken to address these challenges. For instance, there is a

need to identify the most struggling students and the learning and development they need

(García, & Weiss, 2020). Students will need to see that their temporary learning interruptions

will be sustained, whereas teachers will need to do their jobs well during and after the

pandemic. The system of education will need to deliver on its excellence and quality goals

after this pandemic. A key system will be required to ensure children's learning and

development goals are met by providing them with what they need.

Conclusion

Coronavirus pandemic has unfavourable effects on education. These effects were felt by

all the stakeholders and the educational institutions. This study shows that the education

system needs to adopt new technology methods to restrain the effects of COVID-19 and other

future pandemics in the education sector (Onyema et al., 2020). The study also accepts that

close schools' decision was sensible considering the spread rate and the dangers associated

with the COVID-19 pandemic. The unforeseen closure of schools due to coronavirus had a

great lesson and a warning to the whole education sector, especially those who had not yet

adopted the new technologies supporting online learning. Therefore, all stakeholders in the

education sector need to develop strategies to deal with the post-coronavirus era.
 The Coronavirus crisis's effects have delayed the attainment of educational goals and had

significant effects on the poor and those vulnerable. The governments and the international

community have the responsibility to stay true to conduct reforms and principles to regain a

promised future. All education stakeholders have a role in making it happen.

 References

Chambers, S. (2002). Urban education reform and minority political empowerment. Political

Science Quarterly, 117(4), 643-665.

García, E., & Weiss, E. (2020). COVID-19 and Student Performance, Equity, and US

Education Policy: Lessons from Pre-Pandemic Research to Inform Relief, Recovery, and

Rebuilding. Economic Policy Institute. September, 10, 2020.

Onyema, E. M., Eucheria, N. C., Obafemi, F. A., Sen, S., Atonye, F. G., Sharma, A., &

Alsayed, A. O. (2020). Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic on Education.

Sutton, M. (2005). The globalization of multicultural education. Indiana Journal of Global

Legal Studies, 12(1), 97-108.

Yoon, B. (2020). The Global Pandemic as Learning Opportunities about the World:

Extending School Curriculum. Middle Grades Review, 6(2), n2.

Dautbašić, A., & Saračević, J, (2020). The Relationship Between Covid-19, Online Learning

and Intercultural Education. EDITORIAL BOARD, 53.