an essay on affect of Corona virus on schooling
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Answer:As the spread of the coronavirus continues across the world, many questions remain unanswered, not least what is going to happen to those thousands of students whose universities have also been affected by the pandemic. Schools, offices, museums, restaurants and bars are being closed across the world, and curfews are in place in particularly affected countries. Similarly, universities have begun shutting up shop, not willing to risk large swathes of students being affected by the virus. So what does this mean for students who are unable to study, and what are some of the potential workaroundsAcross many countries, universities and importantly their libraries have been shut down. In Berlin, for example, all Freie Universität libraries shut down officially on the 16/03/20 for an indeterminate period, some having already closed during the week before. In Italy, universities have already been closed for some time, as have major universities in the USA. It is surely only a matter of time before this happens broadly across most of the world, assuming the virus isn’t brought under control soon.
Currently, many universities are on study break, meaning a few weeks during which there are no seminars, lectures or tutorials, allowing students to write their essays or do exams. With libraries shut, leaving students unable to find the research materials they need, deadlines for essays and exams will have to be pushed back to allow time for these students to still do their research.
Moreover, with universities closed, many students who need to speak to their professors and tutors for help with their essays won’t be able to, at least, not in person! This causes problems for students who need to talk through their ideas with their supervisors, like, for example, those writing Bachelor’s or Master’s theses. With nobody to turn to for advice, many will cease to write until they are able to talk to the people advising them on their chosen topic.
The economics of the virus
There is an economic impact of the coronavirus on institutions, too. At the beginning of February when Australia began closing its borders, many Chinese students had gone back to their home country for the semester break, which over this period lasts around three months. Due to the travel ban that was put in place, many of these students were unable to return to continue their studies. The financial costs of this show just how reliant many universities are on international students willing to pay vast sums of money for their education: schools across Australia were expected to accrue costs of up to A$8 billion due to tuition fee refunds, accommodation costs and the reorganisation of teaching calendars. These economic costs will also affect universities in other countries, particularly those which have mandatory tuition fees.
Furthermore, IELTS and TOEFL, two of the main providers of English proficiency tests, have also stopped working in China, which will drastically hinder the ability of newer students who need to show they can speak the appropriate level of English in order to study in that language. This will mean subsequent intakes of students especially from China but also all over the world will be lower as fewer students are able to provide the certificates they need.
Abroad semesters and university meals
Another problem has been students studying outside of their home university’s country. Many partake in a semester abroad to widen their cultural and philological understanding, and plenty go to China and Italy to do this, two of the regions hit hardest by the virus. In both instances, students were forced to fly back or, when the quarantine in Italy began, left of their own accord despite the travel restrictions. Aside from the fact that this may mean the virus spreads further outside of those respective countries, it also spells the end of a semester abroad which likely had not yet ended, an upsetting revelation for those who enjoy the excitement of studying somewhere else.
And what of those students who rely on meal programs at university, something particularly common in the US? These students, who pay not only for their accommodation but also for their food through the university, may no longer be able to afford food as everything is normally provided at discount rates by their school.
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