Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Education

Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been one of the most dreaded, recent pandemics impacting multifarious global sectors, including education. To control contagion, affected nations ordered academic campus closures and home-schooling plans. Schools, colleges, and universities underwent a paradigm shift adopting internet-based delivery of lectures, synchronously or asynchronously (recorded), with virtual labs. Medical education suffered significantly; suspending student internships in hospitals decreased practical exposure to clinical specialties, impairing students’ performance, and competency. Teachers of traditional classes, with technical assistance, undertook rigorous trainings to restructure pedagogical and assessment strategies online using web/mobile applications and other digital tools. This could potentially compromise instructional quality, particularly of tertiary education or tactile/experiential subjects, in absence of hands-on resources and live interaction. Lack of network capacity or educational opportunities would discourage socioeconomically challenged, struggling, disabled, or remotely/rurally located students. COVID-19- led isolation impeded numerous students’ attendance, learning and cognition and caused psychological stress or anxiety among students and academic staff. However, such environmental risks threaten vulnerable populations, especially children, whose physical and mental health along with future development and productivity builds upon early, formative years. These long-term consequences can be avoided through institutional guidelines for effective distance education, ensuring that curricular contents set and meet expected course goals and learning objectives, without being too overwhelming. Innovative, information-based e-pedagogy can be enhanced by relevant videos or problem-oriented approaches to foster students’ interest, awareness and application, not only to achieve academic success but to be disciplined and well-rounded people valuing the importance of balanced diet, exercise, sleep, personal hygiene, interpersonal relationships, and social responsibilities. A major contributor in preventing and managing infectious diseases is health literacy, supporting which can help combat pandemics. Design and implementation of policy solutions should aim at promoting health and education. These require cooperation of individuals, communities, health professionals, media, governments, as well as non-governmental organizations.