THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Dr Usman Jimoh Abdulkareem & Lawal Tajudeen Omoluabi

Abstract

Nigeria contributes approximately 20% of the total global out-of-school population. Therefore, there was struggle going on prior to COVID-19 to ensure young children stay in school and have access to proper education. On 19 March 2020, the Federal Ministry of Education approved school closures as a response to the pandemic. The pandemic has unmasked substantial inequities in the education sector. The COVID-19 pandemic is revolutionizing digital and online education globally but children in rural and underserved communities in many parts of the country, are being left behind because they are not equipped to adapt or transition to the new methods of learning. Private and non-governmental sectors are tirelessly working to salvage this situation. This paper therefore analyses the above mentioned problems as well as looked into how these problems could be stemmed down. It also argues for strategies that could be adopted even after the resumption of schools. The researchers rely on context analysis and employs secondary data such as published and unpublished materials like text books, journals, newspapers and internet materials to gather and analyse the required data. Based on the above, the researchers recommended among others that Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and government can do much to improve the quality of, and increase access to, education for poor children in underserved communities.