ERIC Number: EJ1329977
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2202-493X
EISSN: N/A
Challenges to Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A SIDS Perspective with Special Reference to the Situation in the Maldives
Fikuree, Waseema; Shiyama, Aminath; Muna, Aminath; Naseer, Badhoora; Mohamed, Zahra
International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, v20 n2 p5-22 2021
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in 2019 in China, countries worldwide have been grappling with the numerous challenges required of them to protect their citizens and respond to the consequences of multiple lockdowns on the global economy and their education systems. The devastating socio-economic impact is apparent worldwide, but Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have been identified as some of the most vulnerable contexts. In this paper, we build on the international literature and discourse on SIDS, giving special consideration to the context of the Maldives. We highlight the challenges to providing education in this Indian Ocean nation and the disproportionately negative impact of lockdown conditions on students' learning. In the light of original field research carried out with school principals, teachers, students, and parents, we identify and discuss how learners and schools coped with a rapid change to online schooling. In doing so, we highlight what has been achieved and how the pandemic has contributed to the widening disparity between urban and rural schools. Our findings point to the importance of SIDS governments having contingency plans in place to manage education in socially just and equitable ways during emergencies.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, COVID-19, Pandemics, School Closing, Coping, Online Courses, Distance Education, Electronic Learning, Rural Urban Differences, Social Justice, Equal Education, Administrator Attitudes, Principals, Parent Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Student Attitudes, Elementary Secondary Education, Barriers, Access to Computers
Oceania Comparative and International Education Society. Wellington, New Zealand. Web site: https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/IEJ/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Maldives
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A