Subject: Covid-19 and its effects on universities globally
The world is now facing the problem of the covid-19 outbreak that is affecting almost every aspect of the economy, political, and the social life of human beings. At first, it was thought that covid-19 would not bring the negative impacts being experienced today. The first covid-19 case was reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Since then, it has spread to almost all countries across the world. Covid-19 killed a lot of people and left others unemployed. Every country is now struggling to maintain the disease and have their normal lives continue. The condition is said to have affected many commercial areas like in the working environments, education sector, and also in the entertainment sector. Many businesses have been shut down while others have been forced to reduce the number of employees hence leaving a large number of the individuals unemployed. When it comes to education, some schools have been closed while others have switched their classes online. Most of the higher learning institutions in the United States of America have preferred having their courses online. The issue has been welcomed differently by the students some accepting it while others are claiming that it would not be effective. This paper, therefore, researches the covid-19 and its effects on universities all over the world. The research will be based on the switching from the in-class lessons to online classes, shutting down of some schools, changing the normal learning seasons, and the general quality of education.
Switching from in-class lessons to online classes
Many universities in the world have already switched from in-class lessons to online classes. This has been perceived differently by the students, stakeholders, and also the guardians. Many of those who are against online classes argue that not all students can access online services (McKibbin et al., 3). They also say that it would is difficult to learn while at home because of the interruptions by friends and other family members. Online classes are also costly since many schools are increasing the tuition fees to cater for the additional services. Even though a quite number of people has opposed online classes, it seems to have been adopted in many countries. For instance, in the United States of America, many university students have been keen on their timetables about when a certain tutorial would be conducted or careful with any announcements. This means that students are adapting slowly and with time if the covid-19 pandemic continues, all the university students would fully adapt to the online classes.
Some schools shutting down
Another effect that covid-19 can be said to have been caused by covid-19 is the shutting down of some universities. Most of the underdeveloped countries have decided to shut down the schools until further notice probably when the covid-19 pandemic ends. The action has been taken after considering several factors such as the availability of the infrastructure related to online tutorials, the accessibility of the students, and the universities’ infrastructure to conduct online classes among other factors. The governments from the different countries came up with the regulations that would discourage people from gathering together and shutting down of the schools was one of the strategies. This effect has made many university students remain in their homes waiting until their respective governments to decide otherwise.
Changing the normal learning seasons
There are the seasons which the universities follow and which determines when students should be and should not be in the schools. In many countries, there are always two seasons or sessions in a year, January to May, and September to December (Lau et al., 3). The United States of America, for instance, has three seasons, summer, winter, and spring. Before the outbreak of covid-19, the system would follow normally starting from January to December. After the outbreak, everything concerning seasons seems to have been affected. Many university students have remained at home, and they do not know when to get back to classes. This means that their graduation dates would be pushed to compensate for the dates they were not in the school. This is one of the effects which are boring the students, especially those who were in their final year of education.
The general quality of education
As it has been analyzed, many universities in the world have switched from in-class lessons to online tutorials. The switch has made the general quality of education poor. When you compare the online classes and in-class lessons, you will find out that there are many things the students are missing when having their classes online (Chu et al., 2). First, the students would not be able to consult their fellow students in the areas where they get stuck. Second, the students will have no direct interactions with the instructors hence not getting the quick response to the burning questions. This means that the benefits which the students were getting while having in-class lessons have been affected by the outbreak of Covid-19.
Conclusion
From the information, it can be concluded that covid-19 has negatively affected universities all over the world in many ways. Some of the effects which have been discussed by the paper include switching the classes to online, effects on the general quality of education, shutting down of some schools, and changing the normal learning seasons. Those effects are a clear indication that covid-19 outbreak is affecting almost every sector in the world. The scientists should, therefore, take their positions and try their best to come up with the solution.
Work Cited
Chu, Hin, et al. “Comparative replication and immune activation profiles of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV in human lungs: an ex vivo study with implications for the pathogenesis of COVID-19.” Clinical Infectious Diseases, (2020). 1-3
Lau, Hien, et al. “The positive impact of lockdown in Wuhan on containing the COVID-19 outbreak in China.” Journal of travel medicine (2020). 1-3
McKibbin, Warwick J., and Roshen Fernando. “The global macroeconomic impacts of COVID-19: Seven scenarios.” (2020). 1-4