Write an essay on "Impact of Covid-19 on Education sector of Nepal".
Answers
Explanation:
While COVID19 is primarily affecting public health,
spillover effects can already be observed in
education, stemming largely from extended school
closures. The following are among the key issues
to consider:
To date, COVID19-driven school closures have
impacted over one billion students.
1 By current
World Bank information gathering, at the time of
writing this note, 150 countries2 are reporting
school closures. These numbers have increased
rapidly since late February.
School closure decisions have to balance different
factors. On one hand, despite the low rates of
infection among children, school closures are a
critical pillar of the social distancing tools to
mitigate the spread of the disease and avoid an
acceleration of cases that will put a strain on health
services. Its effectiveness as a measure to slow
down the spread of contagion will depend on the
exact timing of the closures, the age structure of
the population and the length of the closure.
Recent guidance from the United States Center for
Disease Control (US-CDC) suggests that school
closures do serve a purpose, in particular if COVID-
19 cases are school-based, to allow for
decontamination and contact tracing. It also recognizes its importance as a tool to increase social distance.
The reports note that a closure of 4 to 8 weeks might be required in case of substantial community spread.
On the other hand, extended interrupted education that disengage students from the learning process has
the potential cost of reversing gains in learning results. An even higher cost comes from the disengagement
of students with learning challenges (academic, socio-economic, students with special/diverse educational
needs or persons with disabilities) who may not effectively cope with remote learning strategies or cannot
access the information (see next section). Where school feeding is the norm, closed schools might preclude
students getting school meals unless alternative arrangements are in place. In secondary schools, longer
school closures could result in an increased risk of dropout for youth, particularly from lower income