COPING WITH SCHOOL CLOSURES DURING COVID-19 IN GHANA– 10 KEY OBSERVATIONS

Abstract

In the face of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic and the closure of educational institutions, there was an immediate and urgent need to devise plans that allowed teaching and learning to continue remotely. Drawing on data from a household survey of parents and guardians with children in primary and secondary schools in a semi-urban town in Ghana, West-Africa, the article documents their experiences during the school closures and transition to remote learning. The study finds that, a) generally households had the technology infrastructure that allowed their children to participate in remote learning; b) the awareness of the various options for remote learning varied; c) participation in remote learning across households was generally low; d) to cope with the transition to remote learning most households hired private tutors for their children; and e) overall, all households had concerns about the loss of learning for their children while finding the transition to remote learning very disruptive. The findings has implications for the design of remote learning opportunities in future emergencies in ways that do not exclude learners and further exacerbate the equity challenges already present in educational systems.

Keywords: Covid-19; Ghana; Transition; Remote; Learning

Date of submission: March 9, 2022 ; Date of acceptance: 25th October, 2022

Date of publication:

*Corresponding author

Citation:

Osae-Kwapong, J. (2022). Coping With School Closures During Covid-19 In Ghana– 10 Key Observations. Multidisciplinary Journal of Distance Education Studies, 1(1), 44-59.

ISSN-L: 2955-7887