Abstract
The lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted child development. Some states in Nigeria made efforts to carry out remote learning for senior secondary schools, leaving behind those in the basic education category, namely Primary 1 to Junior Secondary School Class 3 (Elementary 1 class to 9th grade). The impact of this is examined through surveys administered to students and teachers across all levels. Teachers were specifically interviewed across all levels (primary, secondary, and university) to reveal the impact of the lockdown on the students and the school system. The interviews revealed beyond expectation that the economic impact of the country's macroeconomic situation led to job losses that moved families into poverty and exposed many children to extreme childhood poverty. The hyper-inflation in the country made educating children more difficult for struggling households. The lengthy time spent at home impacted all students including those who learned remotely. Infrastructural gaps, economic conditions, and poor access to basic amenities made it difficult for many children to study remotely. The excitement that accompanied the resumption to school (from the lockdown) was more social than educational. The economic impact on households weighed heavily on students, hence the slow post-lockdown recovery. Two years later, the effect lingers.
TopSome Lockdowns In History
Before recent epidemics, most governments had been reluctant to impose lockdowns due to Human Right infringement reasons. Except for the Chinese, who had done so thrice since 1901 (specifically during the Bubonic Plague re-emergence in 1901), the brief lockdown during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and a brief lockdown during the Bubonic Plague resurgence in Gansu province in 2014. The Spanish government did not impose strict general lockdowns in 1901 during the Spanish Flu. The Bubonic Plague or Black Death Pandemic or the Pestilence of 1348-1352 forced lockdowns due to the severity of its spread and deaths. The 14th century pandemic forced lockdowns imposed by public leaders. The suffering was severe. By way of comparison, the Covid-19 pandemic with over four million deaths as of August 2021 has yet to come close to that pestilence which claimed over 200 million lives.
During the Ebola outbreak in 2014-15, reports of isolations and public preventive measures were recorded in West Africa where it occurred, yet there was no general lockdown in any city, suburb, village, state or country. The Coronavirus was the first in recent times, and the social condition in which the virus festered, occasioned a general lockdown in states and countries. The Ebola virus caused similar social conditions, but the governments and health departments of West African countries did not consider a lockdown. Whether a lockdown did not exist in the dictionary of health professionals in these countries or their value for the lives of the people was so low, remains a rhetorical question.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Social Behaviour: This has to do with the person to person behaviour or interpersonal pattern of action and inaction. In the context of this chapter it refers to the interpersonal relationship exhibited by the subjects, students.
Economic Ecology: This refers to the environment in which an economy exists and functions. The economic ecology could include the abstract and concrete environment with a geographical space. In the context used in this text, it covers the entire economic activities carried out within a geographical and political territory.
Obese: The word is from obesity which is used to refer to overweight. In the context in which it is used in this text, it refers to young overweight persons.
Adolescents: This refers to young person(s) growing into adulthood. It is the age of transition from being a child to being an adult (some posit that it is between 10 – 19 others opine that it is 13 - 19) and it comes with biological, mental, physical, and social changes. This chapter considers 13 – 19 as the age of adolescence.
Psychological Behaviour: This has to do with mental attitude. It refers to the thoughts and the actions that follows. In the text, it refers to all actions connected to a mental perception, thought process and pattern of thoughts and actions.
Commodity Prices: This refers to the price of items or products like petroleum, cash crops and other commodities. The price of each at each point in time. The price of these items at the international market determines their prices.
COVID-19: The short form of the Coronavirus disease is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is a highly contagious respiratory disease first discovered at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China. Its symptoms include mild respiratory ailment, mild fever, or loss of sense of taste. It is spread through droplets and responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of infections in many countries during its earliest waves.
Fluctuations: This refers to unstable conditions. In the context in which it was used in this chapter, it means an unstable movement.