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Quantitative Economics and Management Studies (QEMS) ISSN: 2722-6247 (online)
Vol. 1 No. 3 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.35877/454RI.qems162
Quantitative Economics and Management Studies (QEMS) is licensed under an
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
COVID-19 Pandemic, Economic Loses, and Education Sector
Management
Sampson Agyapong Atuahenea,*, Yusheng Konga, & Geoffrey Bentum-Micahb
aSchool of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
b School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
Abstract
The outbreak of the new coronavirus (COVID) started in December 2020. By far, the COVID-19 has affected over 26,547,419
individuals worldwide, with 874,424 deaths and 18,732,160 recoveries as of August 2020. The research aims at identifying the
effects of COVID-19 on education sector management pointing out success stories of countries that have been able to overcome
the hindrances that the pandemics have brought on the management of the various sectors of education, which other countries may
adopt. From our analysis, we discovered that combating COVID-19; demands syndrome surveillance, immediate isolation of
patients, and strict enforcement of all contact-persons, quarantine, and country lockdown/border closure. We further outlined ways
in which COVID-19 (coronavirus) epidemics affect the education of emerging economies. Our article then summarizes the
evidence of a negative impact that is likely to disrupt the education system and identifies some policy responses to mitigate the
effects. We again realized that what could save education (school system) now and in the future is online learning which
authorities should make available, accessible, and affordable especially for developing countries.
Keywords: COVID-19, education, e-learning, impact, quarantine.
1. Introduction
*
The Covid-19 epidemic has affected the lives of people and economies of countries around the world, creating many
challenges for private, public, and commercial entities (Haleem et al., 2020). Notably COVID-19 pandemic is
primarily a health crisis. Massive quarantines and isolation measures are in place globally:-halting most of the
interactions between people, creating a new world order called social distancing. Thus, social distancing implies the
minimization of physical contact between humans. Now COVID-19 infection, which started in Wuhan, China, is
present in almost every country in the world making it a pandemic (Sohrabi et al., 2020).The serious rate of infection
and the absence of vaccines are very worrying. Almost every sector of the world‘s economy is affected by the
pandemic. The education sector is in a critical state, as it remains one of the key sectors that have been affected by
COVID-19. Briskly, the complete education system has been transformed.
Now, the only way for people to stay connected is to learn via virtual platforms/distance education or online learning.
In developed countries, the government has intervened so that almost every higher education establishment continued
their courses via e-learning or virtual learning platform. Some developing countries modeled their system after serious
countries like Germany, it excludes thoughtful private schools, which forces them to abandon or dismiss their
teachers. There have been online degrees and balls in the United States, an online thesis defense in China, and online
mid-term exams in African countries like Ghana and Nigeria that were not in such things before the pandemic.
Suddenly, new perspectives and new challenges emerge because of the use of electronic/online processes and
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: 5103181207@stmail.ujs.edu.cn (Sampson Agyapong Atuahene)
Atuahene, et.al | Quantitative Economics and Management Studies (QEMS), 2020, 1(3): 103–109
104
practices during the Covid-19 crises (Nguyen, 2020). Different countries have unique challenges, for some, there is no
tested platform to help deliver online education, for others, it is internet connectivity problems. The problem of tutor
and students not being able to use the existing platform also exists. From an individual perspective, poverty and or
financial constraint can prevent a student from benefiting from the alternative form of education during the COVD-19
pandemic. From these standpoints comes the challenges of how the education sector can manage or be absorbed the
pressure that the pandemic carries. Therefore, we set key objectives such as;
To find whether pandemic has a significant impact on educational institution management
To find out whether COVID-19 Pandemic has no significant effect on school activities
1.1. Significant of the study
Communications network learning is one of the most striking examples of the use of electronic learning during the
Covid-19 crisis. E-learning remains the only source among the various types of information communication
technology learning tools that meet students, teachers, and other stakeholders' needs (Crawford et al., 2020).
Quarantine forces most of us to communicate in person only with members of our households and a few important
people who matter. We intend to point measures that some countries adopted to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in the
education sector. Out of, this our paper would make recommendations and suggest what all educational sectors accept
global guidelines or measures.
2. Literature Review
Before the emergency of COVID -19 pandemic, armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate change-induced
disasters, and protracted crises were disrupting the education of nearly 75 million children and youth globally. Sadly,
that number is growing unprecedentedly with the spread of COVID-19. The crisis has compelled many teachers into
virtual classrooms, unprepared for the demands and expectations of this new reality. Teachers have had to adapt to a
world of almost universal distance education, as nearly 94 percent of all learners have faced school closures.
Education is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with 1.53 billion out-of-school learners.
Globally, there is a massive regional variation in internet penetration, with Africa having the lowest, at 39.3%, and
North America the highest, at 94.6%. However, kids/students Education Cannot Wait. In 2016, the global fund for
education in emergencies was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit to coordinate responses and raise
financing for education in emergencies and distribute funds where they are needed most and as quickly as possible, to
continue children's education in times of crisis.
To bridge the gap that has been created by the pandemic academic suggested the use of video services, such as
WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, Zoom, Tencent Meeting, Google Meet, and other customized video call
service application. These apps have become the primary means of communication with people outside our
households - family members, friends, teachers, students, business partners, colleagues, and clients [6].
Videoconferencing solutions have taken over face-to-face communication because they become the most innocuous
and convenient way to make contact with people outside homes during the phases of full lockout, partial lockout, and
isolation/quarantine. Videoconferencing services seem as saviors for the continuity of education systems in most
countries, such as collaborating with colleagues in the office and providing online learning solutions.
2.1. Educational sector and Virtual learning
The use of information and communication technologies in education can play a crucial role in providing new and
innovative forms of support to teachers, students, and the learning process more broadly. The World Bank Group
(WBG) works in partnership with governments and organizations worldwide to support innovative projects, timely
research, and knowledge sharing activities about the effective and appropriate use of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) in education systems.
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Virtual learning or studies are not new to the educational sector. There have been numerous success stories when it
comes to marrying education with cyberspace. Edu-Tech i.e allows students to learn at their own pace and develop
important digital skills and computer expertise needed to succeed in our knowledge-based economy. Regardless,
researchers have also pointed out crucial demerit such as high costs, increased burdens on teachers, and
implementation difficulties. Also, there has been an argument that the use of Virtual mode for the delivery/teaching
and learning of subjects like mathematics has had a little measurable impact on students. The dilemma, therefore, is
what are the Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic lock-downs situation on the teaching/learning of mathematics
and other related subjects that is near impossible to be taught through e-learning platforms?
2.2. Challenges in developing world’s
With lockdown and the pandemic threats, learning has stopped for millions in Africa. Schools are closed and learning
has stopped for millions of students in Senegal, exposing weak digital resilience, and the necessity of improved
coordination within the education sector. The Ministries of Education across the length and breadth of the African
continent are understandably consumed with figuring out how students will catch-up in a continent that is extremely
challenged to deliver quality public education even under the best of circumstances.
Schoolteachers and school administrators' especially public ones remain uninformed on how to make professional use
of their downtime while schools are closed, unsure about what they should do to help their students learn in isolation.
Always hopeful of remaining on-track for the baccalaureate (the high school passing exam), ad hoc groups of
dedicated students and teachers communicate by phone and social networks if they can afford the cost. In some
countries, Local TV stations have started to broadcast lecture-based lessons, while varieties of digital content are
being created. The process of organizing, distributing, and using all of it remains unclear.
2.3. The pile-on effect and the regression effect
Mind you, piling on is a normal stage in the process of ratcheting fear up to crescendo levels. The ‗pile-on effect‘ of
the coronavirus is that, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, interruptions to education can have long-term
implications — especially for the most vulnerable. There is a real risk of regression for children whose basic,
foundational learning (reading, math, languages, etc.) was not strong, to begin with. And millions of children who
have already been deprived of their right to education, particularly girls, are being more exposed to health and well-
being risks (both psychosocial and physical) during COVID-19. These are the children and youth we at Education
Cannot Wait (ECW) prioritize, including:
Young and adolescent girls are twice as likely to be out of school in crises and face greater barriers to education and
vulnerabilities such as domestic/gender-based violence when not in school.
Refugees displaced and migrant children: These populations often fall between the cracks as national policies might
not necessarily include these vulnerable groups and they must be included and catered for in any global responses to
this crisis if this has not already occurred.
Children and youth with disabilities: Along with other marginalized populations, including children from minority
groups, are neglected in the best of times and have lower educational outcomes than their peers.
Young people affected by trauma or mental health issues: Schools and learning centers are places for communities to
address health-related issues, including mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), which the most vulnerable
students rely on for their wellbeing and development to learn. Without access to education, as shocks are experienced
– including loss of life, health impacts, and loss of livelihood – children are more vulnerable and unprotected.
3. Methodology
Per the nature of our research, we use event-study analysis as our key research method. There is a lack of data
regarding the new pandemic. An event study is a statistical method to assess the impact of an event on the value of a
firm/industry. Comparatively, we are looking at how an event (COVID-19) has affected the Education system/sector.
Atuahene, et.al | Quantitative Economics and Management Studies (QEMS), 2020, 1(3): 103–109
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First, we would look at how the previous event affected some particular sectors of the world economy.
Table 1 Economic losses from past epidemics/ pandemics
Epidemics
Fatalities
Studies
Economic losses
Authors
Influenza pandemic
1918-19
Up to 50
million
Cross-country
panel regressions
The US states data
analysis
US states analysis
6% lower GDP growth and 9%
consumption growth overall
Mortality significantly lowers growth
over the following decade
18% decline in manufacturing activity
per year prompter and more aggressive
containment helped cushion the impact
Barro et al., (2020)
Brained and Siegler
Correia et al., (2020)
SARS, 2003
774
CGE model
Chinese Surveys
1% loss in global GDP in 2003
1 to 2% reduction in GDP growth in
China
Lee and McKibbin
(2004)
Hai et al., (2004)
H5N1 avian
influenza, 2003
455
World Bank
estimate
0.1% loss in annual global GDP
0.4% decline in GDP for Asia
Burns et al.,(2006)
Ebola, 2014-16
11,123
CGE
2.1 % lower GDP growth in Guinea
3.4 % reduction in Liberia, and 3.3%
with regards to Sierra Leone in the first
year of the epidemic
World Bank 2014
bubonic plague,
((Yersinia pestis)
14th century 1346-
1352
200 million
resulted in extremely high fatality
20 million Europeans died
Colin McEvedy(1988)
European viruses-
1520
15–20 million
Mexico population reduced drastically
affecting their labor force
Table 1, shows the economic effect that previous epidemics and pandemic brought to the world. Taking these into
considerations economists expect the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on general economic growth to negative.
The reason being that global or regional health has a significant effect on economic growth. Linking the pandemic to
economic failures or shocks and assessing its' impact on education in general, we can conclude that the COVID
pandemic would significantly affect education sector management. The reason as to why the education sector would
suffer severely includes:
a. Diversion of funds by the government to support health programs and projects
b. Neglect of Educational project
c. Stoppage of External Funding
d. Truancy and dropout (less developed countries)
e. Re-learning issues as students might have forgotten their academic work.
f. Issues with admitting and graduating international students
Table 2 Countries and Best practice
Country
Best practices/measures
Challenges
sources
Ghana
Fumigate and disinfect their institutions.
Each student, teacher, and non-teaching staff will be provided with
re-usable face masks
Final year students have been allowed to resume to write their
promoting/graduation exams
students should be allowed to use phone whiles in school
Private schools want the
government to reopen the
schools because their incomes
and livelihoods depend solely
on fees from their students.
https://www.myj
oyonline.com/ne
ws
https://allafrica.c
om/stories/2020
Atuahene, et.al | Quantitative Economics and Management Studies (QEMS), 2020, 1(3): 103–109
107
Country
Best practices/measures
Challenges
sources
parents and wards cannot visit their children in schools
05290382.html
China
The Chinese Ministry of Education requires students to have their
temperature checked and that they display a "green" code of health
through the China Smartphone Health Code program.
Co CoVID-19 diagnostic testing is also conducted on a school
basis.
wearing masks, customized school transport, and assigned routes
to classrooms.
Some students pass through heat imaging cameras and check the
temperature on their way.
In some high schools, supervisors are stationed to teach socially
during lunch, most canteens are arranged as test rooms, and some
schools are set up between tables to separate students. Create
distributors.
Activists have warned that
families are unable to express
concerns about their children
returning to school and that
their
health could be put in danger.
Cases of cured patients getting
infected again
https://www.wef
orum.org
Japan
Decentralization of decision of when and whether or not to reopen
to local municipalities based on the number of coronavirus cases in
the area.
Health guidelines for school reopening include: opening windows
to ventilate classrooms, maintaining physical distance, checking
temperatures daily, and wearing face masks.
Only 40% of schools have
reopened, according to
UNESCO due to a rise in new
infections.
UNESCO, 2020
Denmark
While classes have resumed, schools have placed desks six feet
apart and staggered student arrivals, among other measures, to
adhere to social distancing guidelines still in place.
UNESCO, 2020
Germany
In northern Germany, has students self-administer tests twice a
week. If they test positive, they stay home for two weeks; if they
test negative, they wear a green sticker.
The process of reopening schools begins with students and older
students in primary school ready to graduate or take exams.
Bloomberg,
2020
4. Discussions
The ripple effects of COVID-19 can already be seen in education, which is largely due to prolonged school closure.
More than 150 countries have closed schools, reaching an estimated 1.2 billion students in various parts of the world
affected (W.H.O, 2020). Governments adopted online courses to reduce the impact of the pandemic on education.
While there is not enough evidence to prove that school closings have a significant impact on the spread of
coronaviruses, school closures seem to be a wise choice to follow now.
Concerning the SARS epidemic which occurred in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore, school close-down was found
to be the best precaution when fighting the epidemic (Wilder-Smith et al., 2020). COVID-19 studies predict that
school closures can prevent 2-4% of deaths. Because school closings are an essential pillar of social, distancing tools
to mitigate the spread of the disease and prevent the acceleration of cases that will force health services.
Long interrupted instruction that disengages students from the learning process has the potential cost of reversing the
gains in learning outcomes. An even higher cost stems from the disengagement of students with learning disabilities
who may not be able to effectively cope with distance learning strategies. Where school feeding is the norm, as in the
case of Ghana, closed schools prohibited students from eating meals unless other provisions were in place (Abotsi,
2020).
Problems with the use of video services emerged quickly, mainly due to the lack of security and privacy, at least to
Atuahene, et.al | Quantitative Economics and Management Studies (QEMS), 2020, 1(3): 103–109
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some extent dampening initial enthusiasm and frustration (Grewal et al., 2020). Regarding the presentation of
assignment videoconferencing, which became very popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, videoconferencing,
disables the communication of various non-verbal cues, which are extremely relevant for explaining the exact
meaning or point (Dutton & Mohapatra, 2020). Listeners. Another problem that the education system (schools) may
face is the time difference between local and international students who have returned to their country of origin. There
has been a new revelation as people have become more accustomed to online learning; videoconferencing is much
more useful in the case of geographically distant meetings/classes than previously perceived. Therefore, it can be
expected that videoconferencing will continue to be used after the end of the Covid-19 epidemic, as it will
significantly reduce the costs of these meetings, which in turn will have huge comments positive on the environment.
A similar discussion could be developed for various examples of electronic commerce that were widely used in the
era of the Covid-19 epidemic, such as supply chains, distribution of goods and services, privacy and security, and
mobile connectivity (Ivanov & Dolgui, 2020).
5. Conclusions and Limitation
Although e-learning cannot serve as a perfect replacement for the traditional form of education, the practical
contributions of virtual education shaped by good educational sector management cover various aspects of short-term,
medium-term, and long-term challenges. Online conference calls, video conferencing, e-learning applications,
electronic books, virtual classrooms among others are the key tools employed to seal the gap created in the education
sector by COVID-19. Thankfully, teachers and educational institutions manager did not waste much time adapting to
the new changes.
Apart from technical errors, few (insignificant) complaints have been arise by users of various e-learning platforms
worldwide. The use of cyberspace connectivity to bridge the educational sector gap created by social distancing,
school closure, and lockdowns is a phenomenon.
Even though models are emerging, e-learning technologies are perceived as savior solutions. Various challenges may
appear in the medium term, while in the long term, the realistic attitude towards e-learning technology would be
established. Some may include ―the resistant to change problem‖ since the majority of education stakeholders are used
to the traditional or blended mode of learning rather than sole online e-learning. In addition, cyberspace learning
promotes seclusion, which, seems to have a negative impact on education and, trigger psychological pain and
suffering.
The pandemic of Covid-19 will eventually stop in the future, leaving us with the scarves resulting from the disease
itself and the consequences of quarantine. In light of this, a broad field of scientific research should be developed.
Countries should adopt good practices, that our countries like china used to control the pandemic. Current knowledge
and experience should be transferred as soon as possible into scientifically based research that would provide a solid
basis for understanding how e-learning or online education can support pandemic and volatilities that we are likely to
encounter in the future. Compulsory Educational pandemic funds must be set aside by countries (internally generated
funding) to help when economic shocks or epidemic/pandemic or other unforeseen events that pose a threat to
education happens. Less developed countries must endeavor to improve on their internet connectivity.
Since COVID-19 is, a health-related pandemic little research has been conducted about it in the field of education.
That is to say, limited related literature existed on the topic. Also, because the COVID is new there is a lack of data
for statistical or analytical purposes for now.
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