The impact of the corona virus on education

Rabindra Dhungel, 9 october 2020. Due to the global epidemic of corona virus, i.e. Covid-19, it is having a direct impact on every sector of the country including economic, social, political, cultural and educational. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. Globally, the virus is spreading at the same rate as it is growing, and if left unchecked, its effects will surely wreak havoc on the country.

If the responsible citizens in the government bodies do not become serious in preventing and controlling it, they will have to face a big disaster. The Corona virus, which poses a serious challenge to mankind around the world, is having a widespread impact on education and is likely to continue to do so in the future. The corona virus has shut down all educational activities in the country, from schools to universities.

Even the World Health Organization, the world’s highest body in the field of health, has not been able to take any qualified and progressive initiative in this regard. Today the corona virus has emerged as such a dangerous challenge that it has even challenged the advancement of modern medical science in the field of human health.

The world economy is on the brink of unimaginable damage. Indicators of economic development such as production, employment, savings, imports and exports are also at risk. All productive human activities are at a standstill. The social, political, economic, educational, cultural, tourism, industry, factories and other sectors of the world are facing a unique shock.

At a time when the world’s educational sector is facing a dire situation, Nepal is no exception. Today, all schools, colleges and universities around the world are closed. At this time, the daily reading and regular examination schedule of about 1.72 billion 46 million 57 thousand 870 students around the world has been blocked. Of the total students, 91.3 percent or 1.57 billion students have been affected by the nationwide school closure while the rest of the students have been affected locally.

Due to the closure of schools and universities, some students, especially female students, have been subjected to domestic and other forms of violence. Even though the corona virus infection in Nepal is not at the stage of epidemic, all other professions, businesses and offices, including educational institutions, have been completely shut down since April 25 due to the risk of infection.

At the school level, a total of 7.214 million students from 35,055 community and private schools across the country and 486,000 students studying in 1,425 colleges under 11 universities and health science academies under higher education have been forced to stay at home today. It has been decided to reject the exams of 482,707 students who are preparing for the SEE and get the results based on the school’s assessment.

A total of 962,000 students who are preparing for the final exams of class 11 and 12 will be examined or not. Are confused Regular annual examinations of all the universities have also been stopped. Due to which, millions of students engaged in exam preparation are in a dilemma as to what their future will be. At such times, it is important to pay special attention to how to keep students engaged in educational activities.

Nowadays, it is natural to ignore other issues as there is a global epidemic and human health is being protected. But stakeholders, ministries, departments and other bodies of the Government of Nepal should be very responsible regarding human health security. The Ministry of Education must pay special attention in time to regularize the education system, which is the basis of a happy future for the country, in such a critical situation.

Due to the rising rate of infections and deaths in neighboring India and the increasing number of infections in Nepal, it is necessary to be very careful. Even if the lockdown is opened, the environment for running the school will not be created.

It seems to be a very difficult situation to conduct the examination by bringing the students who are preparing for the examination to the examination center. This is because re-infection is seen when an infected person recovers from treatment and returns home, so it is not certain when the last time this corona virus infection will stop. To date, no country has been able to develop a cure for the virus and the drugs needed to control it. Various scientists are engaged in research, investigation and study in this regard.

It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. Therefore, if this uncomfortable and difficult situation is likely to continue for a long time, then it seems necessary to think of some alternative methods for the examination of about 1.5 million students who are in the final stages of preparation for the examinations of class 11 and 12 and some universities. Similarly, it is necessary to take appropriate decision regarding how to regularize the educational future of more than 8 million Nepali students living at home and not to let it deteriorate.

Keeping students away from regular educational activities for a long period of time can have a big impact in the future when students are losing their reading habits, dropping out in the meantime and weakening the education system. Therefore, in spite of being aware of this horrible and painful situation in the education sector, no stakeholder and government body should be allowed to remain silent by using the corona virus as an excuse.

In this critical situation of Nepal’s education sector, it is also a serious lesson not to be negligent in not endangering Nepal’s education system. Therefore, in this dire situation where it is difficult to reach the school, the class should be conducted using alternative means such as audio / visual, e-learning and virtual classroom, strengthening the educational contact with the students so as not to distract them from regular educational activities. It is also a remarkable opportunity created by the challenge of improving Nepal’s education system. Therefore, it seems necessary to focus on alternative learning without rushing to open schools and campuses.

It seems that the government should spend some budget in the field of education to make free internet services and technology-friendly education. In places where there is no easy access, in this difficult time, along with free provision of internet, educational programs should be conducted through radio, television, FM, national and local media and regular interaction of students with subject matter experts should be done to increase the educational distance with them. This establishes a good relationship between parents, teachers and students.

Many countries of the world are teaching studies through various mediums so that the educational connection with their students is not weakened even in this difficult time. Regular education is very important in developed countries no matter what the difficulties.

The negative impact on the education sector will not only darken the future of the students but also destroy the very structure of the society and the country.

Therefore, no one should be allowed to bring distortion in the name of health and education by showing the outbreak of the epidemic. All three levels of government, the Ministry of Education and other related bodies across the country should not lag behind in fulfilling their responsibility towards education by adopting high precautions towards health.