Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on quality of education

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic is a huge challenge to education systems. Social distancing to curb the Covid- 19 pandemic has caused suspension of classroom teaching in all educational institutions. Government permitted colleges and universities around the world to shut down their campuses indefinitely and move their educational activities onto online platforms. Medical students do not find online classes as effective as the traditional classroom teachings; it could be made more interactive and productive by introducing interactive and brainstorming sessions complementing the conventional face to face education. Owing to financial constraints, students are not able to meet the necessary requirements for effective online learning. The present study aimed to explore the effect of Covid-19 on the quality of education.

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ISSN Print: 2394-7500
ISSN Online: 2394-5869
Impact Factor: 8.4
IJAR 2021; 7(5): 04-07
www.allresearchjournal.com
Received: 05-03-2021
Accepted: 08-04-2021
Mutaher Jahan Begum
Prince Sultan Military College
of Health Sciences, Dhahran,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Nafis Haider
Prince Sultan Military College
of Health Sciences, Dhahran,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Waheed Ahmad Baig
Prince Sultan Military College
of Health Sciences, Dhahran,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Khalid Eqbal
Sufiya Unani Medical College
Hospital and Research Centre,
Bara Chakia East Champaran
Bihar, India
Corresponding Author:
Nafis Haider
Prince Sultan Military College
of Health Sciences, Dhahran,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on quality of education
Mutaher Jahan Begum, Nafis Haider, Waheed Ahmad Baig and Khalid
Eqbal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/allresearch.2021.v7.i5a.8534
Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic is a huge challenge to education systems. Social distancing to curb the Covid-
19 pandemic has caused suspension of classroom teaching in all educational institutions. Government
permitted colleges and universities around the world to shut down their campuses indefinitely and
move their educational activities onto online platforms. Medical students do not find online classes as
effective as the traditional classroom teachings; it could be made more interactive and productive by
introducing interactive and brainstorming sessions complementing the conventional face to face
education. Owing to financial constraints, students are not able to meet the necessary requirements for
effective online learning. The present study aimed to explore the effect of Covid-19 on the quality of
education.
Keywords: Covid-19; Coronavirus; Pandemic; Quality of Education; financial constraints
1. Introduction
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), viral diseases continue to rise, and
pose a significant public health problem [1]. The clinical continuum of COVID-19 varies from
mild illness with non-specific signs and symptoms of acute respiratory disease to extreme
respiratory pneumonia and septic shock, and it can transmit from animal to human in the
form of touch, through the air, water, utensils, fomite and feco-oral route blood [2]. The
pathogenesis and clinical characteristics of Humma-e-Wabai were described several years
ago in the Unani System of Medicine close to the clinical manifestation associated with
epidemic or pandemic situations [3]. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted medical
education, and health care globally [4]. The disease can cause life-threatening conditions and
it presents challenges for medical education, as instructors must deliver lectures safely, while
ensuring the integrity and continuity of the medical education process [5]. The lockdown due
to COVID-19 had serious implications on mental health, resulting in psychological problems
including frustration, stress, depression and quality of education [6]. It is therefore important
to assess the usability of online learning methods, and to determine their feasibility and
adequacy for medical students [5]. Radu MC et al. (2020)., reported that some negative
aspects were reported for Covid-19 impact such as; lack of an adequate infrastructure for
some students, less effective teacher-student communication and interaction, impossibility of
performing practical applications, lack of socialization, lack of learning motivation, less
objective examination (e.g., possibility of cheating), possibility of physical and mental health
degradation (e.g., too much time spent in front of screens, installation of a sedentary
lifestyle) [7, 8]. Consequently, for the new academic year, effective, and efficient measures
must be implemented by the management of the university to remove, as much as possible,
these negative issues and to improve the performance of online educational process [7, 9, 10].
One another reported that It has been shown that medical students and qualified doctors are
not adequately confident in their ability to assess and manage skin conditions, and many feel
that their undergraduate dermatology teaching was not satisfactory [11].
2. Methodology
The impact of Covid-19 on education, and health care has been surveyed Internet sources
such as Pubmed, Medline, Scopus, Science Direct, web of science Google Scholar etc.13,14,15
The keywords used are Covid-19, Pandemic, Amraz-e-Wabai, Epidemic, Quality of
education, Health Care etc [1, 3, 16, 17].
In tern atio nal J ourna l of Ap plie d Re sear ch 20 21; 7(5): 0 4-07

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International Journal of Applied Research http://www.allresearchjournal.com
3. Symptoms
The main symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, fatigue,
slight dyspnoea, sore throat, headache, conjunctivitis, and
gastrointestinal issues [18]. Severe disease and death are more
likely to occur in the elderly, and probably in those with pre-
existing chronic conditions such as diabetes, malignancies
of cardiovascular disease, and hypothyroidism [19, 20, 21].
4. Pathogenesis and transmission
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-
CoV)-2, a novel coronavirus from the same family as
SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome
coronavirus, has spread worldwide leading the World Health
Organization to declare a pandemic [22]. COVID-19 can be
divided into three phases based on the cells likely to be
infected, corresponding to the different clinical stages of the
disease [23, 24, 25]. Higher numbers of leukocytes, irregular
breathing results, and high levels of pro-inflammatory
cytokines in plasma were reported in patients diagnosed
with COVID-19 [26]. The key pathogenesis of COVID-19
infection as a respiratory system that targets the virus was
severe pneumonia, coupled with blindness to the ground and
acute heart injury [27]. Initially, human-to-human
transmission through respiratory droplets or close contacts
was suggested as the main routes for pathogen transmission
based on the experience gained from the two previous
coronavirus epidemics [28, 29, 30].
5. Impact of Covid-19 on Education:
The 20th and 21st centuries have witnessed epidemics and
pandemics of various infectious agents [31]. The COVID‐19
pandemic forced colleges, universities around the world to
shut down their campuses indefinitely and move their
educational activities onto online platforms. The universities
were not prepared for such a transition and their online
teaching‐learning process evolved gradually [32]. Owing to
financial constraints, students are not able to meet the
necessary requirements for effective online learning [33]. As
with most teaching methods, online learning also has its
own set of positives and negatives. Decoding and
understanding these positives and negatives will help
institutes in creating strategies for more efficient delivery of
the lessons, ensuring an uninterrupted learning journey for
the students [34]. For many students, one of the biggest
challenges of online learning is the struggle with focusing
on the screen for long periods of time. With online learning,
there is also a greater chance for students to be easily
distracted by social media or other sites [35]. Therefore, it is
imperative for the teachers to keep their online classes crisp,
engaging, and interactive to help students stay focused on
the lesson. Another key challenge of online classes is
internet connectivity [36]. While internet penetration has
grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years, in
smaller cities and towns, a consistent connection with
decent speed is a problem. Without a consistent internet
connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of
continuity in learning for the child [37]. This is detrimental to
the education process. Students can learn a lot from being in
the company of their peers. However, in an online class,
there are minimal physical interactions between students
and teachers. This often results in a sense of isolation for the
students. In this situation, it is imperative that the school
allow for other forms of communication between the
students, peers, and teachers [38]. This can include online
messages, emails and video conferencing that will allow for
face-to-face interaction and reduce the sense of isolation.
Online learning requires teachers to have a basic
understanding of using digital forms of learning. However,
this is not the case always [39]. Very often, teachers have a
very basic understanding of technology. Sometimes, they
don’t even have the necessary resources and tools to
conducts online classes. To combat this, it is important for
schools to invest in training teachers with the latest
technology updates so that they can conduct their online
classes seamlessly. Many parents are concerned about the
health hazards of having their children spend so many hours
staring at a screen [40]. This increase in screen time is one of
the biggest concerns and disadvantages of online learning.
Sometimes students also develop bad posture and other
physical problems due to staying hunched in front of a
screen. A good solution to this would be to give the students
plenty of breaks from the screen to refresh their mind and
their body [34, 40].
6. Conclusion
The effect of COVID-19 on education system has far
reaching effects on not only the learning process for the
child but it effects the health of students and the adaptive
processes are slow causing loss of productive hours for a
child. The study emphasizes that policy makers need to keep
all these things in consideration while making a shift from
classical teaching to the new technology enabled platforms.
Funding: Nil
Conflict of Interest: Nil
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