SECOND WAVE OF CORONA-VIRUS AND THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

By Onaopemipo Animasaun

This article emphasizes on the impacts of the second wave of the corona virus on the educational system of the country.

As a result of the Covid-19 virus interface which surfaced in Dec 2019, governments of most states decided to close down educational institutions in a bid to reduce the spread of this deadly virus, this was enforced because school age students are vulnerable when faced with the threat of viruses and likewise to the close contacts they get involved in. This sudden break took long than expected causing most of the students to lose some interest in education. However, as the closure of schools is a positive development for the safety of the students and will reduce the spread of this disease, negatively, the closure of schools creates educational and socioeconomic problems that must never be overlooked.

The impact of the pandemic was more severe for the less privilege students, causing interruption in learning and also consequent economic cost to families who could not work and still have to feed their children back at home.

Following the easing of lock downs, the hopes of people were restored as many were able to get back to their work, schools were asked to resume on a routine basis as the students were divided into groups while some other sections’ activities were falling back to place. Recently, it was reportedly announced and confirmed that the virus has inadvertently surfaced again which was regarded as the second wave of this pandemic and termed to be more violent, spreading more than it did in the first wave.

This second wave of the pandemic apparently resulted into the lock down of some schools across the nations while some were in panic state on decisions to make. As of 12 January 2021, 40 countries have localized school closures, UNESCO estimates 473,933,356 learners of being potentially at risk as a result of the second wave of this pandemic, most especially Pre-primary to upper secondary school students.

Considering the effect of this new wave, learning will most likely become harder for students to deal with most especially the primary and secondary school students, most students will lose passion for specific subjects and also face difficulties in the ability to focus on crucial information in classes. Some schools proposed the idea of E-learning which in a way will not be beneficial for pre-primary or primary school students because, feedback will be limited as it’s not all student that will have access to the internet and also gives room for little or no face-to-face interaction. E-learning can cause social isolation, differ students learning experience, cheating prevention during online assessments is complicated, and lack of communication skill development in online learning.

In conclusion, governments proposing to stop educational activities such as locking down the school will do more harm to the society than good. Thereby, school activities should not be stopped and those involved should be made to follow the guidelines without compromising.