By Opeyemi Babalola
Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, had put FCT and other six states which were Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano and Plateau on red alert as part of efforts to halt the spread of the deadly pandemic.
The deadly disease was pronounced pandemic in March 2020 after it had killed over millions of people in the world.
Two years ago, the name COVID-19 first came into the limelight after the disease was first reported in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China at the end of December 2019.
As of the time of this report, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has confirmed 176,577 cases of the pandemic while 2,178 deaths have been recorded since the first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic was announced a year ago.
The disease which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, spreads faster through coughing, sneezing, speaking, singing or breathing.
In order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO), advised keeping a 1 metre away from others, wearing a well-fitting three layer mask, avoiding overcrowded places, washing of hands with soap regularly among others.
Countries affected by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to return to their normal ways of doing things as it forced the closure of market places, schools, and others.
Most especially, the schools in Nigeria were grounded for a period of six months in order to mitigate the spread of the virus. Between July and August 2020, the number of cases usually exceeded 500 which foretold that some actions needed to be taken in order to lessen the spread of the coronavirus.
The declining rate of the number of infections recorded during September last year made it possible for the reopening of schools on October 12th 2020.
A report by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) revealed that more than 168 million children globally were affected by the closure of schools.
Most countries in the world that closed their schools all embraced online learning. Nigeria for example, with the number of students attending the government-owned schools, all missed the opportunity of continuing their learnings physically. Most privately owned schools interacted with their students on the Zoom app, Google classrooms, and the least schools that can't afford these went for the WhatsApp messenger as a means of interaction and to further continue learning activities.
The struggle by most schools to meet up with their students to continue the learning process depicts how learning is important to our daily lives.
The closure of the schools bridged physical interactions among students and teachers, which made most students to undergo serious emotional pains and increased inequality among students and schools. Some students who were about to write their examinations were destabilized and had to take their examinations online.
The irregular power supply and poor internet connection made the whole transition to e-learning suffered. There's no particular state in the country that enjoys 7 hours of uninterrupted power supply, whereas the e-learning process requires enough time compared to having a teacher before the students.
The process of e-learning requires more time, more data and regular power supply.
School closure across the world exposed the weaknesses of some countries when it comes to digital learning.
In Nigeria, the Ministry of Education in several states, engaged primary and secondary schools students through mass produced radio and television programs in order to continue the learning process.
Among the initiatives developed by the government to ensure continuous learning during the lockdown was the launching of Learn at Home Programme (LHP) and virtual e-learning platforms, that have relationship with online educational companies.
The impact of the transition to online learning was minimal as we still have parents who couldn't afford a smartphone for their children let alone a television in the house.
Not only does this affect the students alone but also the teachers, most especially the private school teachers were stranded for over six months without being paid salaries.
With the rigorous activities in the higher institutions of learning, several students, were forced to embrace the remote learning system. After the reopening of schools last year, evidence emerged that school closure has greatly affected the learning system and resulted in actual learning losses. The negative effect of the closure of schools can be visibly seen as the calendars of most schools across the country are still imbalanced. Some universities which are supposed to be running a new session in 2021 are still struggling with last year's session. The reopening of schools came with new methods to halt the spread of the coronavirus as many universities including primary and secondary schools made compulsory, the use of face masks, regular hand washing and use of sanitizer. Some weeks ago, the University of Lagos for instance, confirmed the third wave of the coronavirus. A statement on the school's portal disclosed that “The University of Lagos community has also been affected by this potential 3rd wave, with an increase in the number of patients presented to the University of Lagos Medical Centre with flu-like symptoms which are similar to COVID-19.”
The management of the school also listed and explained 10 preventive measures towards curtailing the spread of the deadly pandemic. These include: “Mask up: Cover the mouth and nose with a face mask when in all public places or when in the midst of people.
“Practice social distancing when in public places by ensuring there is a distance of 6 feet (about 3 arm lengths) between you and the next person.
“Regular washing of hands with soap and water for about 20 seconds or the time it takes to sing the happy birthday song twice.
“Rub the hands with 60-70% alcohol-based sanitizers when hands are not visibly soiled and in the absence of soap and water.
“Get fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as the vaccines have been proven to be effective in the prevention of severe forms of the disease.
“Temperature checks before entry into buildings within the community.
Re-activation of handwashing stands at all entry points to buildings within the community.
“Labelling of seats and pathways to ensure social distancing.
Gatherings/ Meetings should be limited to 50% occupancy in closed spaces or preferably conducted in outdoor spaces or via virtual platforms.
“Mobilization of COVID-19 Response teams in faculties and departments for the domestication and implementation of the COVID-19 guidelines and protocols and peculiar issues that might arise.”
The institution also said that “All members of the University community who embark on international travel are enjoined to comply with the Federal and Lagos State Government guidelines on COVID-19, and self-quarantine for a minimum of 7 days on return to the country before taking the arrival COVID-19 PCR test.”
It added that, “Every effort is being made for another COVID-19 vaccination exercise within the community once a new batch of vaccines are available to Lagos State.”
Students of the institution are yet to move to another level as they are still struggling with second semester which supposed to have ended long ago. A student of the school, Akanbi Kazeem, who is in 200 level in the Department of Political Science said the coronavirus has destroyed the learning process in the lives of many students. According to him, “I am supposed to have started my 200 level lectures, but now I can't because we have been mandated to receive lectures online. Most times, I don't usually find it easy but I just have to make sure I attend the lectures and do the necessary things expected of me.”
He explained that the school management created a platform called V-learning (Virtual learning) or LMS. He said that all the materials for each course are there for students to access and read. He added that test writing was conducted on the same platform.
Kazeem also lamented over the amount of data he consumed each time they have lectures on the Zoom app. He said that, “the University lecturers have made the whole process of e-learning look like that of physical learning where we normally go to classes, attend lectures and mark attendance.” He said that despite it was online learning, some lecturers still mandated that attendance must be marked by every student who participated in the online classes.
A final year student of the University of Ilorin, Adeosun Memunat, expressed sadness over the retrogression in her studies caused by the deadly pandemic. She said she was supposed to have finished her studies but for COVID-19, she was still struggling to write exams. According to her, “ Most of my friends who attended the e-learning as directed by the school management complained a lot trying to access the internet. I didn't participate in the process because I went for my Industrial Training.”
She said the students took lectures remotely for four months while they did physical examination in May last year.
Memunat who is a student in the Department of Industrial Chemistry, said the school, in a way to deal with the third wave of the coronavirus, has made the use of face masks compulsory for all students. She said, “Now, the school is going tough in ensuring that all students wear face masks.”
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