Abstract
In this study, the authors investigated the extent to which the management strategies intended to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus impacted the implementation of educational programs in Tororo District, Uganda. The objectives of the study included (1) determining the levels of implementation of education programs in Uganda during the COVID-19 lockdown, (2) determining the extent to which COVID-19 pandemic management strategies were effective in preventing COVID-19 spread in Uganda, and (3) exploring factors other than COVID-19 pandemic management strategies that affected the implementation of education programs in Tororo District, Uganda. It used a simple random sample of 202 teacher participants. The results indicated low to high levels of effectiveness of the pandemic management strategies and a generally low mean level of implementation of the educational programs. Other factors that affected education programs during the COVID-19 lockdown were also identified. Implications for policy and practice were discussed.
TopIntroduction
With the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, the provision of education worldwide took different shapes and sizes. Countries adopted various approaches to manage the disease as well as mitigate its effects with guidance from World Health Organisation (WHO), the respective ministries of health, and political heads. The Government of Uganda enforced a number of restrictions including a total lockdown on March 21, 2020 during which all major social, economic, political, and educational activities/services were suspended. Even when some of the restrictions were later eased, education institutions – Schools, Tertiary Colleges, and Universities – remained closed. Later, only final year students of each cycle of the education system, followed much later by those in semi-final year, were allowed to resume their studies. The rest of the learners in the education system, especially lower primary school pupils, did not resume studies for over 18 months. This well intentioned management of the pandemic grossly disrupted the provision of formal education and related critical educational services.
COVID-19 is noted to spread mainly between people in close contact through small droplets during coughing, sneezing or talking (WHO, 2020a; WHO and US Centre for Disease Control [CDC], 2020). Social distancing, face-masking, and generally good personal hygiene were thus imposed to curb the spread of the deadly virus (Adhikari et al., 2020). In addition, WHO (2020b) warned countries worldwide against early re-opening of schools in order to curb down infections in the concentration areas (Businge & Mutegeki, 2020). In this regard, the government of Uganda adopted COVID-19 management tactics such as temporary closing of schools, isolation and quarantining of suspected patients, lockdown of the country, curfew, hygiene observance in all public places and ban of public and private transport among others, to deter the spread of the pandemic in the country (Conan et al., 2020). These measures helped in preventing or slowing down the transmission of COVID-19 in Uganda.
However, as noted by Kizza (2020), the government of Uganda equated the fight against COVID-19 pandemic to a war or conflict during which all socioeconomic activity ceases. Therefore, the management strategies employed for preventing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda caused anxiety, stress, and uncertainty, especially among learners who had stayed home for months since the closure of schools (Businge, 2020). In line with the Ecological Theory which postulates that to understand human development one must consider the entire ecological system in which growth occurs (Bronfenbrenner, 1976), the absence of teaching and learning during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic should have resulted in developmental and hence behavioural anomalies in the learners. Similarly, in line with the Open System Theory of Bertalanffy (1968), schools can can be viewed as open systems constituted of five basic elements; inputs, transformation process, outputs, feedback, and the environment. Schools as open systems are spaces where the teaching/learning process is observed as a throughput (process) used to transform inputs (the students with resources provided) into outputs (graduates and their academic products) with different competences (Bizimana & Orodho, 2014). The interaction between teachers, resources, and students constitute a sine qua non for the effectiveness of the teaching/learning process.
Realistically, schools have objectives to achieve and achieving these objectives requires that all the elements (inputs including students, teachers, and resources; throughputs such as teaching methods; and outputs such as graduates with different skills and attitudes) involved in the education process are treated as interdependent. This therefore implies that in the event of closing down schools during COVID-19 pandemic, the school open system process was interrupted at throughput stage. Arguably, the management strategies had a limiting impact on the implementation, progress, and hence achievement of educational programmes in the Tororo District schools.
Key Terms in this Chapter
COVID-19: COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. WHO first learned of this new virus on 31 December 2019, following a report of a cluster of cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. The virus is spread from person to person through liquid particles such as aerosols (smaller) and droplets (larger) from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs, sneezes or speaks. People can catch COVID-19 if they breathe in these droplets from a person infected with the virus. These droplets can land on objects and surfaces. People can then become infected by touching these objects or surfaces, and then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): These are guidelines aimed at taking a coordinated action at national, regional, and global levels to overcome the ongoing challenges in the response to COVID-19, address inequities, and plot a course out of the pandemic. The common SOPs for COVID-19 include social distancing, face masking, regular sanitizing, and frequent handwashing.
COVID-19 Pandemic Management Strategy: An internal control performed by one or more managers. WHO develops most up-to-date technical guidance for clinical care of COVID-19 patients based on ongoing assessment of new evidence generated by the international community and first responders.
Lockdown: A state of isolation and restricted access or travel, e.g., to contain an infectious disease or prevent movement of dangerous people.
Educational Programme: This refers to a program for providing education. The programm is built on achievements and also focuses on the challenges, to mitigate, for example, risks related to or associated with a previous or parallel program. The program also considers a strategic move towards safe, equitable, and effective delivery of education to the intended students. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Uganda in partnership with nongovernmental organisations such as UNICEF provided a homeschooling education program for continued education through radio, television, and print reading materials. Individual institutions that had the capacity also offered online lessons and materials through zoom, Microsoft Teams, Whatsapp, and other platforms for continued educational support of their learners.
Educational Inequity: Inequity generally refers to injustice by virtue of not conforming with rules or standards. Therefore, educational inequity implies the lopsided provision of education, in which case a section of the population is favoured while another section is disadvantaged. The provision of education during the COVID-19 lockdown favoured learners from high socioeconomic status sections of the Ugandan population while those from low socioeconomic were disadvantaged.