COVID 19: Its Devastating Impact on Global Education

The world, to some extent, has gone astray in the face of a powerful invisible enemy –

the COVID 19. Every day for the past weeks, we have seen the unfolding of a devastation: the

global spread of a pandemic. Many have considered it as a battle. But how can we even go to a

battle without a declaration of war? The world has never been ready for this catastrophe, thus,

many people died.

Many of us are still having a hard time making sense of what is really happening. A lot

has come to pass. All day long, info graphics, news articles and a lot of other media are being

spread online. More so, on social media, people are voicing concerns and venting their

frustrations about the government’s response with the global pandemic. Also, we all had learned

how to use different expressions, such as, “flattening the curve,” “persons under monitoring,”

“persons under investigation,” and most prominently, “social distancing.”

Since there is still no existing cure for the disease, non-pharmaceutical and preventive

measures such as social distancing and home quarantine were observed to stem and contain the

virus. This had prompted closure or suspension of classes worldwide. School closures have far-

reaching undesirable effects. UNESCO Director-General Azoulay remarked, “While temporary

school closures as a result of health and other crises are not new unfortunately, the global scale

and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten

the right to education” (George, 2020). Consequently, the pandemic is a threat to global

education as this could lead to a gigantic educational crisis (Saavedra, 2020).

What should we be apprehensive about amidst this phase of catastrophe that has

immediate impacts on education?

 The pandemic has disrupted the learning process. The school year of different education

institutions was interrupted; hence, affecting the lives of the students, teachers and school

administrators. Suspension of classes is challenging as it leads to decrease in instructional time

which could affect the learning achievement and educational performance of the students

(Lindzon, 2020). However, to address the concern, online learning has been widely

implemented. Saavedra (2020) pronounced the following:

A lot can be done to at least reduce the impact through remote learning strategies. Richer

countries are better prepared to move to online learning strategies, although with a lot of

effort and challenges for teachers and parents. In middle-income and poorer countries, the

situation is very mixed and if we do not act appropriately, the vast inequality of

opportunities that exists – egregious and unacceptable to start with – will be amplified.

Here in the Philippines, one of the guidelines released by some higher education

institutions is the use of distance or online learning to catch up with the curriculum. In support,

Muyot said that “Schools should limit the impact of disruption to education through open,

distance and online learning” (Malipot, 2020) Nevertheless, a lot of concerns had escalated with

the use of online learning. The Philippines, as a third world country, could not effectively

respond to the class suspension through online interaction because some of the students, and

even teachers, have no access to the Internet. As stated by Bagayas (2020):

Students humbly request the Commission on Higher Education to exercise its

administrative powers to issue a memorandum order regarding the suspension of online

classes and consider the arguments and recommendations. It is the utmost responsibility

of the students to uphold their rights and to ensure their welfare amidst the crisis.
 With the students’ apprehensions about the e-learning, some of the institutions in the

Philippines suspended the online classes. As a result, there is really a loss of learning. The

pandemic hampered the learning process.

When students, teachers and school administrators return to school after the lifting of

class suspensions, the institution will be a changed landscape because it has already been marked

by considerable learning loss (Tarasawa, 2020). On the other hand, this educational gap brought

about by the pandemic could still be mitigated. What can we do to lessen or even to eradicate

this academic burden?

There is a need to reshape education, there is a need to transform education. As what

Azzi-Huck (2020) said, “Education interventions during a crisis can support prevention and

recovery of public health while mitigating the impact on students and learning.”

Realizing the importance of education, it has undeniably the potential to contribute to the

protection of the learners. Education would help them cope and have some sense of normality

during this pandemic. More so, education would help the youth recover more quickly and

acquire useful skills, such as digital mastery, because of distance or online learning. Though it

might be difficult for some countries, there is a rising need to adapt Education 4.0 or the digital

education. Remote learning could really mitigate the loss of learning because of the pandemic.

Innovativeness is indeed essential. For example, adapting different platforms for the use of

smartphones in delivering the learning process.

COVID-19 has taught us the preparedness is very crucial. It is very critical to work

together in addressing the pandemic. Most importantly, school administrators and different

policy makers can use this global crisis as an opportunity bring together innovative learning

modes that can reach everyone, and most especially to make the education system more resilient.
Azzi-Huck, K. (2020). Managing the impact of COVID-19 on education systems around the
world: How countries are preparing, coping, and planning for recovery,
https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/managing-impact-covid-19-education-systems-
around-world-how-countries-are-preparing. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
Bagayas, S. (2020). Students of top 4 PH schools urge CHED to suspend online classes,
https://www.rappler.com/nation/255852-students-top-schools-philippines-call-ched-
suspend-online-classes-coronavirus-outbreak. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
George, P. (2020). 90 Million Students Out of School due to COVID-19: UNESCO Releases
First
Global Numbers and Mobilizes Response, https://en.unesco.org/news/290-million-
students-out-school-due-covid-19-unesco-releases-first-global-numbers-and-mobilizes.
Retrieved 21 April 2020.
Lindzon, J. (2020). School closures are starting, and they’ll have far-reaching economic impacts,
https://www.fastcompany.com/90476445/school-closures-are-starting-and-theyll-have-
far-reaching-economic-impacts. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
Malipot, M. (2020). Group asks authorities to protect children from COVID-19, too,
https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/03/18/group-asks-authorities-to-protect-children-from-
covid-19-too. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
Saavedra, J. (2020). Educational challenges and opportunities of the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic,https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/educational-challenges-and-
opportunities-covid-19-pandemic. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
Tarasawa, B. (2020). COVID-19 school closures could have a devastating impact on student
achievement, https://www.nwea.org/blog/2020/covid-19-school-closures-could-have-
devastating-impact-student-achievement/. Retrieved 22 April 2020.