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International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume V, Issue V, May 2020|ISSN 2454-6194
www.rsisinternational.org Page 28
COVID-19 and E-Learning: Nigeria Tertiary
Education System Experience
Adeoye, I. A.1, Adanikin, A. F.2, Adanikin, A.3
1Department of Business Admin., Caleb University, Imota, Lagos State, Nigeria
2Department of Social Science Education, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria
3Department of Civil Engineering, Elizade University, IlaraMokin, Ondo State, Nigeria
Abstract - Globally, the world is faced with the COVID-19
pandemic which has held the economy at ransom not exempting
the educational sector. This pandemic has brought about recent
changes and disruptions in the educational sector which serves as
a catalyst for the development of any nation. Educational sector
globally is seen to be shifting towards e-learning in order to
cushion the effect of this pandemic. However, developing
countries evidence from the Nigeria experience are posed with
the challenge of shifting from the traditional teaching method to
the e-learning during the pandemic. The challenges arise as a
result of the varying degree of preparedness of the institutions,
lack of infrastructures, paucity of funds and policies issues in the
Nigeria education sector. It is in tandem with this prevailing
issues that this study examines the Nigeria educational system
based on the global pandemic. This paper further discusses the
necessity of e-learning; identifies and discuss challenges as well
as opportunities. Recommendations to enhance e-learning during
and post COVID-19 were also given.
Keywords: COVID-19, E-Learning, Nigerian Universities,
Academic Calendar, Students
I. INTRODUCTION
he coronavirus which is popularly known as COVID-19
has disrupted the global educational system as most
countries around the world have resulted in temporarily
closure of all educational institutions in an attempt to contain
the spread of the pandemic.According to the report by
UNESCO (2020), the closure of educational institution has
impacted over 91% of the world‟s student population. The
ripple effect of this pandemic has been felt by both the
educators and students in primary, secondary, colleges and
universities as academic sessions were disrupted after the
coronavirus was declare a public health emergency. This has
left many students and educators in a rude shock as some of
this institution were at the point of preparing for examination,
admitting of freshmen, beginning of a new semester, amongst
others. Universities around the world including Africa have
resulted in looking for ways to cope and adapt to academic
changes as a result of this pandemic.
This COVID-19 pandemic has shaped a new normal for the
higher education sector across the globe from transforming
the online learning platform, restructuring application
processes, and stimulating crisis management strategies. The
COVID-19 outbreak has opened up the importance of online
education and distance learning however, just a handful of the
world‟s education that are taught online. According to
Eduventure (2019), in the United States of America, about
15% of the total undergraduate students are enrolled for online
learning and distance learning. Developed economies such as
Canada, United Kingdom and United States have experienced
a decline in their educational revenue as foreign students
either quit their studies or were sent back home. The
pandemic has resulted in a more severe consequence on
schools that do not possess the online learning platform.
The COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world have taken its
effects on many sectors of the economy especially in Nigeria.
This effect is also evident in the Nigeria educational sector
has the academic session was halted by the Federal ministry
of education in order to curtail the spread of this virus in
educational institutions. Although, this decision came as a
shock to many educational institutes as many of these
institutions were not prepared for the sudden disruption,
others have seen it as a step in the right direction. The
challenge then remains how will this pandemic affect students
and academic calendars hence, the use of e-learning as an
alternative learning method. However, despite the immense
benefits of the e-learning platforms available, not many
Nigerian universities have embraced it.
Poor budgetary allocation, corruption and unpreparedness are
contributing factors to the inability of many public tertiary
institutions to embrace e-learning during the global COVID-
19 pandemic in Nigeria. A ten year (2010-2019) budgetary
allocation to the Nigerian education sector as shown in Table
1 has been very poor and below the 15 to 20 percent
recommended by UNESCO for developing countries like
Nigeria. With budgetary allocations like these comes
deficiencies that does not allow for growth of e-learning and
creates challenges when institutions try to embrace e-learning
during pandemics such as the COVID-19.
T
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume V, Issue V, May 2020|ISSN 2454-6194
www.rsisinternational.org Page 29
Table 1: Nigeria Budgetary allocation to Education (2010 - 2019)
Year
Budget
(₦Trillion)
Educational
Allocation (₦
Billion)
Percentage of
Budget (%)
2010
5.160
249.09
4.83
2011
4.972
306.30
6.16
2012
4.877
400.15
8.20
2013
4.987
426.53
8.55
2014
4.962
493.00
9.94
2015
5.068
392.20
7.74
2016
6.061
369.60
6.10
2017
7.444
550.00
7.38
2018
8.612
605.80
7.03
*2019
8.830
620.50
7.03
Total
60.973
4413.17
7.24
Source:Ndujihe (2018) - Vanguard Newspaper
*Ameh and Aluko (2019) – Punch Newspaper
Table 1 reveals that for the 10-year period, the education
sector got an average of 7.24% as against the 15-20%
recommended by UNESCO. This definitely will not allow
infrastructures such as ICT platforms, electricity, teacher-tutor
training amongst others needed to allow e-learning grow in
Nigeria to be available.
However, some universities particularly the private
universities in Nigeria have embraced e-learning as a means to
ensure that their academic calendar is not totally distorted.
These universities have devised the use of information and
communication technology tools to facilitate learning during
this pandemic. Several e-learning platforms have been
adopted by universities although these platforms are in
exhaustive. They include, Zoom, Microsoft teams, google
hangout (meet), skype, Bamboo learning, google classroom,
Docebo, WIZIQ, Adobe captivate, Elucidat, Blackboard learn
amongst others. Private universities seem to be at the forefront
of e-learning capacity in Nigerian universities as a result of
their innovative and flexible operations. Regrettably, it
appears that most public universities have not been able to
embrace the e-learning platform to the detriment of their
students and the society at large. Various factors might be
responsible for these in the public universities such as student
population, training of lecturers and students, sustainable
internet facilities amongst others. The aforementioned factors
coupled with the universities union incessant strikes play a
key role for the set back of public universities academic
activities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
Private universities have also embraced the e-learning
platform to continue with the academic calendar due to the
financial commitment to their workforce as shutting down
will bring about difficulty in revenue generation. However,
the public universities largely depend on government
subvention and Tetfund assistance because of the discounted
tuition paid by their students as compared to their counterparts
in private universities. The efforts of the national open
university of Nigeria (NOUN) is worthy of note has the
institution currently operate on the e-learning platform where
learners and lecturer can interact. The sporadic pace of ICT is
seen in the innovative development of advanced countries
such as Japan which conducted a virtual convocation
ceremony for its students using robotics (Kacerauskas
& Kusaityte, 2020). In America, universities such as Harvard
university have embraced e-learning platforms but in most
African countries such as Nigeria, traditional forms (physical
contact) of learning has been the norm. Despite the benefits of
the e-learning platform, there has also be constraint in the full
actualization and utilization of this platform due to the
dynamic Nigeria environment. This paper will examine some
of these challenges and opportunities which can be leverage
on by both private and public universities in Nigeria.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
The term e-learning connotes electronic method of learning
which is associated with computerized learning in an
interactive interface at the convenience of both the learners
and lecturers. E-learning also implies educationally
technology. According to Eze et al. (2018), e-learning
education is concerned with the wholisticin corporation of
modern telecommunication equipment and ICT resources into
the education system. Parks (2013) posits that the word “e”
should refer to “everything, everyone, engaging and easy” in
addition to „electronic‟. The benefits of the e-learning include
better content delivery, interactivity, quality content delivery
and confidence of both learners and lecturers in the
educational sector. Despite the advantages of the e-learning, it
is still at its infancy and early adoption stage in Nigeria due to
its dynamic structure.
2.1 Challenges of e-learning in Nigeria
E-learning is still confronted with a lot of challenges in
Nigerian Universities especially during this pandemic as this
is the only medium available for learning. One of these
challenges is epileptic power supply in Nigeria especially in
rural areas as there is no guarantee of at least two hours‟
power supply at a stretch. Irregular power supply in Nigeria is
seen as an age-long problem which has affected almost every
aspect of Nigeria economy with no exception to the
educational sector. This unstable poor power supply has
caused a major setback for technological advancement of
many universities in Nigeria. Most rural areas in Nigeria
where some students are resident are not even connected to
the national grid and as such, this student will experience
difficulty in utilizing the e-learning platform effectively. Also,
shortage in power supply have brought difficulty in powering
of educational gadget such as smartphones, laptops and
desktop computers needed for learning.
Another major obstacle to e-learning in Nigeria is tied towards
the high cost of internet data services. The internet service
required to connect to this e-learning platform sometimes
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume V, Issue V, May 2020|ISSN 2454-6194
www.rsisinternational.org Page 30
requires a lot of data. The cost of purchasing the data bundle
is so high which might be difficult for both students and
lecturers. In cases where is even data, poor internet
connectivity by network providers is of major concern
especially when it comes to video conferences where both the
students and lecturers have to interact. The cost of accessing
the internet in Nigeria is still on the high side. Hence, some
students find it a challenge to afford. The cost of a personal
computer (PC) and Laptop are still very high in Nigeria
considering the income level of an average worker in the
country. Few students that are privileged to have a PC/Laptop
are not connected to the internet as this do attract extra cost
which they cannot afford. Also, this poor internet connectivity
and high cost of data has resulted in low attendance of
students during the online classes. This low online class
attendance has also been linked to the poverty situation in the
country as some families and students might not be able to
afford basic needs such as food and clean water let alone the
expensive gadgets or resources to sustain them for online
learning. Another challenge posed by the e-learning education
is the incapability of lecturers to assists learners develop the
skills and trainingrequired to make the e-learning platform
effective. E-learning creates room for complete absence of
physical personal interactions between students and lecturers
and among their colleagues.
2.2 Opportunities applicable to use of e-learning
Despite the challenges posed by integrating and embracing the
e-learning system, it has become the most preferred platform
to learn during global pandemic periods such as the COVID-
19 where movement is restricted and institutions of learning
are on lockdown. The adoption of e-learning system for
universities will enhance the efficiency of knowledge as both
students and lecturers will have ease access to a large amount
of information within the global village. In most universities,
class space for lectures is usually a problem as some times
there is clash in timetable or overpopulated students.
The e-learning system will completely reduce the issues of
insufficient classrooms for lectures as student can easily take
the lectures online without any disruption at their
convenience. Also, e-learning afford students and lecturers to
participate in class in their comfort zone with basic amenities
they need when compared to the traditional teaching method
where sometimes these basic amenities are unavailable for
conducive learning. This is supported by the findings of
Pingle (2011) that undergraduates in India have a higher
acceptance level of comfort working with computers and
other e-learning packages than the traditional face-to-face
classroom.
E-learning provides a platform for students to interact with
themselves through the discussion forum which eliminates the
barrier of participation. It also allows for effective
communication and fosters relationship between students and
lecturers. It also allows students to study at their open pace
and convenience as the lecture material is readily available
and the content delivery of the lecturer is quite accessible to
them. Hence, it increases satisfaction and decreases stress.
The knowledge of e-learning will expose both lecturers and
students to the reality of the world outside the classroom since
the world is a global web. The e-learning exposure will ease
the student‟s integration into organizations where such
platforms are operational.
E-learning can be said to be cost effective as it reduces travel
time and infrastructural development in terms of buildings.
Arkorful and Abaidoo (2014) discovered that the cost benefit
of e-learning in training students is lesser than that of physical
(face-to-face) contact. This was arrived at after considering
some factors namely: the number of students trained; distance
to be travelled; time of training. Guragain (2016) also posit
that the value of face-to-face class contact content
development, distribution and maintenance cost are
exclusively high as compared to e-learning which is of lower
cost. All these shows that adoption of e-learning tends to solve
educational challenges especially at a time such as the
COVID-19 pandemic.
III. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The study concludes that the present world pandemic is
making the educational sector to look inward. Institutions are
now embracing e-learning which serves as alternative to the
face-to-face contact learning thereby helping the institutions
cover gaps the pandemic might cause the institutions
academic calendar. The adoption of e-learning during the
COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a lot of lapses and gaps to
be filled in the Nigerian educational system. This is most
obvious amongst the public universities. The challenges of e-
learning in Nigeria ranges from irregular power supply, high
internet subscription costs, poor internet access amongst other
factors. The applicable opportunities associated with the
embracing e-learning includes lecturers‟/learners convenience,
exposure and cost benefits.
This study recommends that government needs to be more
firm in their handling of public universities administration and
help prepare them for the adoption of ICT and e-learning in
Nigerian institutions. Furthermore, private universities should
be proactive in ameliorating the challenges identified in this
study and build on the opportunities e-learning offers
institutions even post COVID-19. Furthermore, effective
government policies that will sustain workable social
infrastructures that will be sustainable even during unforeseen
crisis is required. Finally, government should infuse more
monetary resources in Nigeria‟s educational sector so that its
institutions can compete globally.
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