Rizwan Hassan Shah

The global pandemic of COVID-19 is a health catastrophe. The coronavirus began as a life-threatening epidemic, but this outbreak will create lasting changes in the way we live and work. Unimportant businesses were shut down and government officials – at state and federal levels – told citizens to stay home.

Schools were closed, forcing college students to stay indoors. For almost everyone who works and studies at home, online video calls have become a way to go and interact with colleagues and friends.

Policymakers claim that: “With the schools closed, we make the biggest test of online teaching and homework. As soon as glitches have been worked out, online education will have proved to be an effective form of education. While there, usage will jump up. It will be used in conjunction with traditional human learning. The cost of college can be greatly reduced as more students will love online courses.”

Every country that is suffering from COVID-19 has made legitimate and immediate decisions to shut down academic institutions like schools, colleges, and universities. This health calamity has given rise to the conundrum which is being majorly faced by policymakers of every country.

At the start, the policymakers were in confusion about whether to keep academic institutions shut down or re-open them. This disruption also has posed many problems to the parents of students as it gave a wave of disruption to their productivity along with disrupting student’s social life as well as academic life. The education system has been transferred to the online platform.

School assessments also have been transferred to the online but they have chances of trial, error, and uncertainty. Many examinations also have been canceled due to this issue and these cancellations are not done for the short term, they have long term consequences that are faced by students and faculty members.

Going to schools, colleges and universities have always been the best public policy for improving the skills of students. Even if the school is missed for a shorter period of time, it leaves a long-term consequence on student’s lives.

During the crisis situation, most of the educational opportunities have been missed by the students. To overcome this type of crisis and not letting this pandemic result in the loss of education systems, the policymakers have introduced online platforms where classes can be conducted. School closures not only impacts students, teachers, and families but far-reaching economic and social consequences.

School closure in response to COVID-19 has enlightened us on a variety of social and economic issues, including student debt, digital literacy, nutrition, homes, and access to child care, health care, housing, internet, and services.

Closure of schools, colleges, and universities have resulted in postponing and cancellation of examinations and assessments. Child’s progress can’t be reported to teachers and parents as it was reported before the pandemic. This pandemic has caused the lockdown of academic institutions which has disadvantages on the front line but is also good for some people.

It also has some benefits. For instance, in Norway, it has been decided that all 10th-grade students are going to get their high school degree. It is a mistake to believe that online reading can work by posting tutor notes online or video recording while in conversation.

However, this is what is happening the most right now.

Unplanned internet delivery will have an impact on the quality of programs. This is unfortunate at a time when great achievements have been made in improving the quality of teaching and learning in tertiary institutions.

Experience has shown that online learning quality requires instructional materials to be prepared by a trained instructional designer. The instructor should be trained to administer the program and that students are equally open to online learning.

In the section of higher education like universities and colleges, they have not canceled the exams. They have replaced traditional examination systems with the online educational system.

But majorly, graduate’s careers have been severely interrupted by this lockdown. In their final part of the studies, they have faced many interruptions. Most likely, they are going to get their graduation degree when the global recession will be initiated.

Need of the Hour

Now the solutions to overcome problems caused by academic institutions are being designed by policymakers. Schools, universities, and colleges must be provided with resources to rebuild their course’s loss once they are opened again.

The uncertain situation should be released at once to overcome the mental barriers of students. It will help escalate the confusion of the minds of students.

The term “Mental” is related to the state of the human mind and its psychology. The sense of a person works in such a way that it generates different impulses for different kinds of tasks, and our mind works well with the help of intellectual functions performed by our brain. If the human mind is kept away from psychological disorders, the aging process delays.

Psychological disorders include depression, stress, loss of appetite, OCD, and anxiety issues. These disorders have led students to give up easily and go broke. The major reason behind that is our education system.

Since a student is expected to stay busy with school/ college or university, from the dawn till dusk. This leads a student to develop anxiety and depression in his/ her personality and behavior.

Apart from the education system, being a little hindrance in the way of a student’s academic life, there is another major factor. That factor is societal norms and curricula.

Every society holds two types of factors: Encouragement as well as discouragement. These factors exert pressure on students such as social, academic load, stress and financial burdens. These effects a student life in a very bad manner. Students feel overwhelmingly anxious.

In accordance with the survey made “National College Health Assessment”, it is reported that 30% of the students were hopeless and heartless and had lost will-power whereas 20% had developed symptoms of being depressed and anxious. This makes them stay dull and tired, which affects their academic performance.

Depression affects cognitive functioning of the brain. This is the mental health problem, and it triggers the thinking problems of the students. It can build memory problems in student. Depression contributes to learning disabilities and leads to low performance in the school.

Those students who suffer from disorders like depression and anxiety have poor performance due to lack of participating in class, no relationship with peers, class fellows and teachers, mental disorders really influence academic performance.

Mental Barriers cause poor performance in the overall routine of a student. As Personality Grooming is a key factor in achieving success. But these mental barriers cause a full stop for Personality Grooming in student life.

The bad academic performance in the encouraging factor for underachievement. A student’s unpredictable performance is the major sign that indicates towards developing depression and anxiety.

For instance, a student does one task in an incredible way, but cannot do another task; this is a sign of anxiety and depression. When, for the long-term, these mental orders are not addressed or treated on time, they can create many long term side effects on child’s mind. It can cause them to forget things easily and make them not being able to socialize and interact.

Responsibilities of the Elders

Mental disorders have physical side effects too like fatigue, nausea and illness. A college is a stressful place for many teens, so it is very important for parents, friends, faculty, and counselors to get involved if they suspect a student has depression. In order to solve the issues that pose a hindrance in the way of student’s education lives, there are many solutions.

1. The academic institutes must introduce services, i.e. psychiatric and counseling, so that students may not struggle.
2. Students activities must be kept in check since the adolescent stages of his/ her life.
3. More specifically, the students must be taken care of during their puberty stages
4. The academic institutions, media, and counseling services should work together to sort out this problem.
5. Students must be made feel free to expose themselves in front of their teachers, parents, and counselors.

Remedies of Mental Barriers of Students

There are seven remedies outlined below that can be used to overcome the mental barrier that acts as an obstacle in students’ academic life:

1. Psychotherapy engagement rather than letting students coping alone
2. Medication is better than suffering, and it really helps one out to feel more relaxed, happy and stress-free
3. Healthy workouts and exercises for mindfulness
4. Contemplating in nature: this factor is revealed by the philosophical model that “spending time in nature and connecting with it reduces depression and relaxes one’s mind
5. Putting up with positive vibes and setting better social connections
6. Improvement of Nutrition and having a balanced diet, as there is saying you are what you eat so one should always eat well to stay healthy and relaxed
7. Avoiding alcohol consumption and usage of drugs
8. The setting of healthy boundaries recognizes self-worth and achieve settled goals. These can work out the mental barriers to the students and their academic lives.

The world is under the siege of pandemic and its devastation across the globe has alarmed the whole of humanity. Currently, the whole world is lock-downed.

All the activities range from ordinary work to the global economic market that has been ceased by the spread of contagion. However, the outbreak of coronavirus across the world has threatened the liberal theory of “Capitalism”.

That theory was introduced by Adam Smith in the last quarter of the 18th century. Followers of his ideology have witnessed the era of great prosperities and rule over the world.

The US and European Nations have experienced bulge in different fields like the Industrial, Agriculture, Banking, and the educational sectors as well. These nations have some top world universities like Oxford, Cambridge, and Pennsylvania that have changed the whole educational system.

Similarly, these nations during the remote past era have witnessed many pandemics. Later, their discoveries helped them in fighting against pandemics that had been emerged in the aftermath of their outbreak.

Therefore, incumbent human civilization is witnessing the newly emerged coronavirus that has affected the whole world. It has leveled enormous pressure on the education system in Western as well as Eastern states.

However, students of universities, colleges, and schools have been refrained from their right to education by a coronavirus.

The effects of that pandemic on students in the west are cursory glance below

Financial Impact on Students

One of the crucial impacts that the virus has leveled on students is chalk off of financial support. According to statistical data of reports, approximately 20 million people have lost their jobs owing to lock-down in New York after this outbreak.

However, loss of the source of earning may compel parents to refrain their children from enrolling in universities and colleges. Similarly, those students who have already been enrolled in educational institutions will hardly continue their education.

It has also been predicted that 15% enrolment will be reduced and that will also cause loss of huge revenue for private educational institutions.

Impacts on Foreign Students

Other than indigenous students, foreign students are on the verge of savages of the pandemic. Enormous students from different developing, as well as developed countries like China, India, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea, etc, are currently in Europe and the US, and their main means of earning have been vanquished in the aftermath of continuous lock-down.

However, they pay their education fairs through earning but today they are under severe pressure and may discontinue their education. There is a huge percentage of foreign students that may leave abroad and will never come back.

Digital Education and Corona Virus

In the post-modern era, when we are interconnected with the latest technology and can work more expeditiously than ever, these all achievements collapse betwixt the outbreak of the pandemic.

Today the schools, colleges, and universities are commencing online classes for students but during crises, the unprecedented issue has emerged with that digitalization.

Students in developing countries, as well as developed countries, are witnessing the uneven occupation of technology. Many institutions have reported a low percentage of attendance in online classes, approximately 50 percent of students remained to log out from online classes, or even they did not check their e-mail.

Therefore, the main reasons for backing these problems are numerous but the most crucial is the lack of internet service. In the United States, students in areas like Ohio, Taxes, and others, have no excess to the internet and they do not have enough resources owing to the loss of parent’s jobs.

Similarly, online classes need a strong network but qualities in these areas are persistently not adequate to meet the requirement. Other than that, students who were working on daily wages are now out of the capital to purchase network service.

Restrictions on Immigration

Another issue that may emerge on the screen is the restriction on immigration of students in American and European states. Currently, almost all states have restricted the movement of people, including businessmen, students, sovereigns, etc, beyond the border.

It is unclear how long the pandemic will remain and will foreign students be allowed to enroll in these countries? This question is crucial and must be tackled with durable measures because many developing countries send their students on scholarship in these developed countries.

However, restrictions on these students will bring gruesome consequences in the aftermath of the pro-long continuation of the pandemic.

Disturbance in the Education Cycle

Normally, we make policies regarding the examination and admission criteria of enrolment. Usually, these policies are carried out with little spike. But now it has become blatantly clear that these policies are going to be drastically changed because of the lock-down.

The lock-down will delay everything in the educational system even the criteria of admission too. The private sector is witnessing a huge chunk in revenue. And as per expectations, these institutions will drastically change their policies towards students.

However, delay in exams and enrollment of new students is inevitable but there are other things that are likely to be changed. Therefore, some universities may remove test criteria to enroll as much as possible students to meet their losses.

Similarly, in the case of continuation of the pandemic, will new students take admission or incumbent students continue to pay higher charges for online classes?

These institutions may surge their educational dues and there are enormous chances that student will leave their education in such circumstances.

Conclusion

Summing up the aforementioned discussion, we should have to acknowledge that the go-it-alone strategy will not bring fruitful outcomes. We need solidarity beyond the continents to topple down this vicious pandemic.

This has halted every activity or every sector of the world. Dubbing pandemic as “Chinese virus” or reprisal allegations will not help in mitigating the crises.

The international milieu has currently alluded with the wrangles of populist leaders. In the meantime, they should also take the education system under their discussion.

These educational institutions are the backbone of the economy and search. The recent allocation of emergency funds by President Trump is quite a huge amount but the education sector has received a little.

However, that amount for a crucial sector is too low but during crises, institutions must corporate with states and students. After all, high time solidarity is needed between the pillars of states to cope with the crises with a full heart