E-Learning is Key to Post COVID-

E-Learning is Key to Post COVID-19 Reconstruction in Nigeria's Education

Muttaqa Yusha’u Abdulra’uf

The Coronavirus pandemic popularly known as COVID-19 is unprecedented health and economic crisis for the twenty-first century. Since its emergence in Wuhan-China in November 2019 more than one million people were infected, with over sixty thousand death recorded. Preventive measures led to the lockdown of major cities amidst the closure of learning institutions. While the work-at-home and other related learning activities perfectly worked for the developed world courtesy of their digital infrastructure. For the developing countries, it is challenging; due to the poor or absence of the needed digital infrastructure, epileptic power supply and host of other challenges. There is an apparent need to enhance digital infrastructure as a necessary requirement for post-COVID-19 reconstruction in developing countries like Nigeria. This call became imminent due to the following reasons:

Closure of schools sent many children and wards homes as preventive measures for the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Whereas, the developed countries have conveniently converted lessons through online learning- as pupils log-in to their computers which makes learning unhindered. In many developing countries including Nigeria, children remained idle at home. And as the saying goes; the idle mind is a devil workshop. Our lack of digital infrastructure for e-learning in our schools, especially public schools makes the stay-at-home a debilitating experience for our children. This poses policy concern for revamping the digital infrastructures in our learning institutions as an utmost priority of democratizing access to an online learning experience.

The ontology of access to education has changed from access to the physical structure of learning in the schools and extends to access to modern instruments of teaching and learning. Hence, demands for access to quality education been a key component of sustainable development goal SDG 4 should equally include the provision of digital infrastructures for online learning in our schools. Ironically, the closure of schools without alternatives following the national lockdown amounts to infringement of the fundamental rights of citizens to learn in the twenty-first century. Thus, bridging this digital divide is the surest way of harnessing the potentials of digital platforms for online learning.

Even before the COVID-19 national lockdown. The Universities in Nigeria were on strike for avoidable reasons bordering on; imposition of IPPIS on the payroll of the Universities and other cases related to non-compliance to the collective bargaining agreement between the Federal government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). While the industrial crisis over bread and butter demands and other infrastructural decay is ruining our universities. The competitiveness of Nigerian universities in research and teaching and driving the University-Industry Link remains a major challenge. For instance, the Universities through their centers of virology and laboratories would have been in the forefront in responding to the infrastructural needs of converting the COVID-19 pandemic, through the production testing kits, and ventilators and training of health personnel.

The tripod of University, Business and industries link can never be achieved when occasional lockdown of Nigerian universities remains a ritual observed all most annually. Thus, the COVID-19 epidemic calls for decisive action from the stakeholders involved to re-open the Nigerian Universities and boost their capacity to transfer knowledge in both real and virtual terms. This is the time to re-open the Nigerian Universities, restore the salaries of the striking teachers to ameliorate their suffering in the midst of the national lockdown. Social dialogue is the only tool to address the industrial crisis, not executive fiat.

Post-COVID-19 reconstruction in the education sector should leverage virtual learning such as MOOCs as a key instrument of knowledge production and dissemination. For example, some countries have made it mandatory for Universities to introduce MOOC courses in certain subjects as a way of enhancing virtual learning. The introduction of MOOCs became more imminent with the teacher-student ratio in the Nigerian Universities. With MOOCs in place, Nigerian Universities can address the challenges of learning outreach to a wide range of students and could also make the Universities’ outreach programmes on a wide range of topics to different stakeholders. For example, Nexford University offers a wide range of online courses across the world, with affordable fees across the emerging economies in Africa, the Middle East, and India.

The future of knowledge production and its dissemination lies in the application of digital infrastructure. The post-Covid-19 reconstruction of our learning institutions depends on our level of creative imagination in terms of (i) design of courses tailored on the needs of the market and industry, (ii) targeting of participants and (ii) retooling of learning infrastructures using online platforms. The regulatory institutions such as the Federal ministry of Education (FMoE), the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) been regulators of Universities, Colleges of Education should include online learning as a key requirement for licensing and accreditation for public and private institutions of learning.

Dr. Muttaqa Yusha’u Abdulra’uf wrote from Central Business District Abuja.