The Impact of the Novel Corona Virus in Education: Salient features learnt in Higher Institutions of learning, Kenyan perspective

Abstract

The world was attacked by the Novel Coronavirus Virus which has been forcing the world into a series of changes in many fields one of them being education. This pandemic imposed new educational methods such as adopting remote teaching to support distance learning and online education delivered through radio and television and internet learning in schools, colleges and universities. This new method was considered the sole method to ensure continuity of education in the educational institutions during this pandemic. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the impact of the Novel Corona Virus in Education, the e-readiness of Dons in higher institutions of learning to shift from face-to-face to online teaching and the salient features learnt in Higher Institutions of learning. The study employed both a cross- sectional study design and a theoretical review of secondary data material to discuss the challenges and mitigations for the Novel Corona Virus of 2019 in the Kenyan education sector, with specific reference to higher institutions of learning. Classical Liberal Theory of Equal Opportunities advocated by Sherman and Wood and the theory of justice and fairness advanced by Rawls John guided the theoretical review. The in-depth background review shows the impact of the Novel Corona Virus on education especially the higher institutions of learning. The study findings established that ownership of electronic devices didn’t guarantee e-readiness by Dons and competence in use, technical issues, lack of prior experience on e-learning and Dons had limited skills on e-readiness to shift from face-to face to online teaching. The study recommends an emerging framework to assess the uneven and difficult implementation of e-readiness in initial and continuing educational institutions in Africa especially Kenya, and this form both the perspective of Dons and stakeholders in higher institutions of learning.