Education Beyond COVID-19

At the end of 2019, the world was shaken by an epidemic of disease that began to spread in China and then spread throughout the world. A dangerous virus that has claimed many lives and has had a profound effect on all human beings. This is the worst crisis ever recorded in world history. 2020 is not the year we want, lockdown, work from home and the economic sector are closed, that is among the new norms after the emergence of COVID-19. Among the most affected sectors is the education sector. Education is the most important thing to all. Due to the spread of this dangerous disease, schools, colleges, universities and all educational institutions were closed during the early stages of the transmission of COVID-19, the first quarter of 2020. Educational institutions are closed to prevent the spread of this COVID-19 epidemic to the community while maintaining the well-being and health of the country's assets. According to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF), 91% of students worldwide are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in which nearly 2 billion children and students are unable to go to school and so on physically due to lockdown orders enforced by the national government. respectively.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education 

1. Pre-School

Children as young as 4 to 6 years old can not attend preschool or kindergarten and this is very worrying because children should socialize with others, let alone when they are young, this is so that they learn to interact, socialize, play and have fun with other children in addition to learning. To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, children need to be taught other methods such as online classes. This is alarming, because at an early age, they have been exposed to gadgets which are not recommended. This can lead to addiction to gadgets and then they are not interested in socializing with other children. 

2. School

Formal educational institutions in schools are no longer the same as before. Initially, schools were closed and primary and secondary school students could not physically attend school and even had to use online learning methods. At the school level, it is good for students to be exposed to virtual learning methods as they did once this pandemic emerged, This is in line with the desire to make education advanced in technology where it can take advantage of today's technology. However, if we look at the situation faced in our country, the broadband and internet network that has not yet been fully expanded is an obstacle to students who are in rural areas or backward areas in gaining satisfactory broadband and internet access. 

3. Undergraduate

Among those most affected by this pandemic are post graduate and undergraduate students in all institutions of higher learning regardless of government or private. With the closure of institutions of higher learning after the outbreak of COVID-19, undergraduate education will face a decline in the student recruitment sector, this could lower the country's economic income in the education sector. Malaysia is also a hub of international education because higher education in Malaysia is of the same quality as other countries. With the ongoing international travel restrictions to break the chain of this dangerous virus, international students cannot enter Malaysia which is not good for the country's economic sector, this is because students who come from abroad have contributed quite a bit to the country's economic sector. 

It is clear that the spread of the COVID-
19 pandemic has had many adverse effects compared to the positive effects we can see, especially in the education sector. Hopefully one day the situation will gradually recover and humans will be able to carry out daily life as before this pandemic. That's all my personal opinion, thank you. :)