covid 19 in india essay in english for students

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Covid 19 Essay in English

Essay on Covid -19: In a very short amount of time, coronavirus has spread globally. It has had an enormous impact on people's lives, economy, and societies all around the world, affecting every country. Governments have had to take severe measures to try and contain the pandemic. The virus has altered our way of life in many ways, including its effects on our health and our economy. Here are a few sample essays on ‘CoronaVirus’.

100 Words Essay on Covid 19

200 words essay on covid 19, 500 words essay on covid 19.

COVID-19 or Corona Virus is a novel coronavirus that was first identified in 2019. It is similar to other coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, but it is more contagious and has caused more severe respiratory illness in people who have been infected. The novel coronavirus became a global pandemic in a very short period of time. It has affected lives, economies and societies across the world, leaving no country untouched. The virus has caused governments to take drastic measures to try and contain it. From health implications to economic and social ramifications, COVID-19 impacted every part of our lives. It has been more than 2 years since the pandemic hit and the world is still recovering from its effects.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the world has been impacted in a number of ways. For one, the global economy has taken a hit as businesses have been forced to close their doors. This has led to widespread job losses and an increase in poverty levels around the world. Additionally, countries have had to impose strict travel restrictions in an attempt to contain the virus, which has resulted in a decrease in tourism and international trade. Furthermore, the pandemic has put immense pressure on healthcare systems globally, as hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients suffering from the virus. Lastly, the outbreak has led to a general feeling of anxiety and uncertainty, as people are fearful of contracting the disease.

My Experience of COVID-19

I still remember how abruptly colleges and schools shut down in March 2020. I was a college student at that time and I was under the impression that everything would go back to normal in a few weeks. I could not have been more wrong. The situation only got worse every week and the government had to impose a lockdown. There were so many restrictions in place. For example, we had to wear face masks whenever we left the house, and we could only go out for essential errands. Restaurants and shops were only allowed to operate at take-out capacity, and many businesses were shut down.

In the current scenario, coronavirus is dominating all aspects of our lives. The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc upon people’s lives, altering the way we live and work in a very short amount of time. It has revolutionised how we think about health care, education, and even social interaction. This virus has had long-term implications on our society, including its impact on mental health, economic stability, and global politics. But we as individuals can help to mitigate these effects by taking personal responsibility to protect themselves and those around them from infection.

Effects of CoronaVirus on Education

The outbreak of coronavirus has had a significant impact on education systems around the world. In China, where the virus originated, all schools and universities were closed for several weeks in an effort to contain the spread of the disease. Many other countries have followed suit, either closing schools altogether or suspending classes for a period of time.

This has resulted in a major disruption to the education of millions of students. Some have been able to continue their studies online, but many have not had access to the internet or have not been able to afford the costs associated with it. This has led to a widening of the digital divide between those who can afford to continue their education online and those who cannot.

The closure of schools has also had a negative impact on the mental health of many students. With no face-to-face contact with friends and teachers, some students have felt isolated and anxious. This has been compounded by the worry and uncertainty surrounding the virus itself.

The situation with coronavirus has improved and schools have been reopened but students are still catching up with the gap of 2 years that the pandemic created. In the meantime, governments and educational institutions are working together to find ways to support students and ensure that they are able to continue their education despite these difficult circumstances.

Effects of CoronaVirus on Economy

The outbreak of the coronavirus has had a significant impact on the global economy. The virus, which originated in China, has spread to over two hundred countries, resulting in widespread panic and a decrease in global trade. As a result of the outbreak, many businesses have been forced to close their doors, leading to a rise in unemployment. In addition, the stock market has taken a severe hit.

Effects of CoronaVirus on Health

The effects that coronavirus has on one's health are still being studied and researched as the virus continues to spread throughout the world. However, some of the potential effects on health that have been observed thus far include respiratory problems, fever, and coughing. In severe cases, pneumonia, kidney failure, and death can occur. It is important for people who think they may have been exposed to the virus to seek medical attention immediately so that they can be treated properly and avoid any serious complications. There is no specific cure or treatment for coronavirus at this time, but there are ways to help ease symptoms and prevent the virus from spreading.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

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Information Technology

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary.

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi .

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive.

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues.

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems.

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description: A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials.

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs.

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story.

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion.

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue a BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication) , B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media) , or MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.

Corporate Executive

Are you searching for a Corporate Executive job description? A Corporate Executive role comes with administrative duties. He or she provides support to the leadership of the organisation. A Corporate Executive fulfils the business purpose and ensures its financial stability. In this article, we are going to discuss how to become corporate executive.

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product.

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans.

Process Development Engineer

The Process Development Engineers design, implement, manufacture, mine, and other production systems using technical knowledge and expertise in the industry. They use computer modeling software to test technologies and machinery. An individual who is opting career as Process Development Engineer is responsible for developing cost-effective and efficient processes. They also monitor the production process and ensure it functions smoothly and efficiently.

AWS Solution Architect

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Essay On Covid-19: 100, 200 and 300 Words

Updated on
Sep 20, 2023

COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, is a global pandemic that has affected people all around the world. It first emerged in a lab in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and quickly spread to countries around the world. This virus was reportedly caused by SARS-CoV-2. Since then, it has spread rapidly to many countries, causing widespread illness and impacting our lives in numerous ways. This blog talks about the details of this virus and also drafts an essay on COVID-19 in 100, 200 and 300 words for students and professionals.

This Blog Includes:

Essay on covid-19 in english 100 words, essay on covid-19 in 200 words, essay on covid-19 in 300 words.

Simran Popli

An avid writer and a creative person. With an experience of 1.5 years content writing, Simran has worked with different areas. From medical to working in a marketing agency with different clients to Ed-tech company, the journey has been diverse. Creative, vivacious and patient are the words that describe her personality.

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The Effects of COVID-19 on Students in India

SEATTLE, Washington — The coronavirus pandemic has significantly changed everyday life for people across the globe. As a developing country with the second largest population in the world, India is dealing with the full consequences of COVID-19. One obstacle the country has faced since the pandemic hit is in continuing a quality level of education for their students. The effects of COVID-19 on students in India have brought many issues to light, but communities across the country have rallied in support of their students in a multitude of ways.

Overall Effects

Since the coronavirus first appeared, 320 million students in India have been directly affected by school closures. Closures have pushed India towards a modernized, digital style of teaching. However, this solution comes with its own unique set of problems.

The National Sample Survey of 2017 to 2018 reported that only 23.8% of Indian households had any type of internet access. Furthermore, there is a gender disparity in internet access. Only 16% of women have mobile internet access compared to 36% of their male counterparts. In addition to the gender gap, there is a class divide in place with the impoverished students of India having the least access to the internet.

What Is Being Done

Urvashi Sahni, the founder and CEO of the Study Hall Educational Foundation , has worked toward reaching out to as many students as possible and successfully connected to 70% of their student body. Also, teachers are utilizing digital volunteers in continuing education for low-access students by using methods such as teaching through phone calls or messages.

Another issue emerged when panic quickly spread among communities due to COVID-19, but teachers did their best to put families at ease. With many of their students being financially affected, instructors sent out e-flyers with information on relief measurements provided by the government of India and other organizations. Furthermore, instructors provided detailed, scientific information about COVID-19 to ensure both students and parents were well-educated on the virus. SHEF and teachers have put efforts into alleviating the impact of COVID-19 on students in India.

Education in India

India ranks first for the world’s largest youth population at an astounding 600 million people under the age of 25 . This statistic is significant in the sense that not only does the current education climate affect India , but it also affects global education. Many graduating seniors are facing travel and financial restrictions, reducing the overall number of students that will pursue education overseas.

Also, entrance exams have been postponed and, in turn, delayed admission processes for many seniors. Expanding outside of grade school, graduating college students will find themselves in a low-demand job market. The difficulty of finding a job during a pandemic will increase India’s overall unemployment rates. Regardless of these challenges caused by the pandemic, positive changes are occurring.

Positive Changes to Education in India

For graduating seniors in grade school, guidance counselors are equipped to provide both emotional and educational support for their students. They aim to ensure that seniors feel comfortable discussing how the coronavirus has affected their personal lives, while also providing a list of options best fit for them in regards to pursuing higher education. Although there will be fewer students studying abroad, universities and colleges in India will be enhanced with many top-tier students attending national schools.

Another benefit of digital teaching is that teachers can participate in enhanced collaborative learning. This style allows instructors from different countries to connect and support one another in teaching their students, which builds a global, mutually beneficial relationship. Despite all the barriers, communities are displaying resilience in alleviating the consequences of COVID-19 on students in India.

Lasting Impact

The pandemic has presented a whole new set of challenges that countries are currently attempting to overcome. India is just one of the countries that have been affected in numerous ways. India is currently dealing with the millions of students directly affected by this pandemic. Despite its barriers, India has proven its country’s willingness to support the education of its future generation.

– Bolorzul Dorjsuren

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India’s leather tanneries, yuva pragati making an impact in india, diya ghar: breaking cycles of poverty through education.

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Essay on Coronavirus Pandemic for Students in English

January 4, 2021 by Sandeep

Essay on Coronavirus Pandemic: The ongoing global health crisis and the biggest challenge that humanity has faced since the days of World War 2 is the coronavirus pandemic. Starting from Wuhan in China, Asia, it spread like wildfire to every nook and corner of the world except Antarctica. With more than one million deaths and counting, the human race is shattered by the mounting death tolls. It brought in a global economic crisis and deprived basic living conditions to many.

Essay on Coronavirus Pandemic 500 Words in English

Below we have provided Coronavirus Pandemic Essay in English, suitable for class 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10.

Over the past few months, newspapers and tabloids have been inundated with articles containing information about the spread and surge of coronavirus. Coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19, originated in a meat market in Wuhan, China in December last year. The virus spread quickly across the world and has claimed millions of lives. Soon, the World Health Organization declared the deadly disease a pandemic. All economic, social, cultural and political activities came to a standstill. Governments advised citizens to remain indoors and practice social distancing.

However, scientists, doctors, healthcare workers and providers of essential services continued to work hard and have emerged as heroes through the pandemic. In India, the first case of the coronavirus was detected in February. In March, our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown to tackle the surge in positive cases. Citizens were required to wear masks and gloves if they ventured outdoors and use sanitizers and wash their hands regularly. Public transport shut down and non-essential companies, industries and services have been advised to remain closed till further notice. Schools and universities sent students back home and continued teaching through online portals.

Many people were apprehensive about these changes and wondered how long before they would be able to return to normalcy. Many others argued that this was the ‘new normal’ and that we would have to adapt to these changes.

Since most people were required to remain indoors, applications like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar and YouTube witnessed a rise in viewer activity. Television shows, movies and sitcoms provided an escape for people to entertain themselves, while at home. Other online game applications such as Ludo King, Mafia and Heads Up also became increasingly popular because they enabled groups of friends to play together virtually from various locations.

Since it was difficult for newspapers to be published and circulated, Twitter and Instagram became the go-to option for citizens to receive updates on the situation. Harvard University launched a plethora of free online courses so that students could continue to learn even from the confines of their homes.

However, with the spread of the coronavirus, fake WhatsApp forwards spread like wildfire too. These fake headlines caused unnecessary fear, panic and anxiety amongst the public. The Indian government has taken steps to curb the spread of fake news. For instance, it launched an application known as Aarogya Setu to provide authentic information and statistics to the citizens. Citizens can use this application to take an online COVID test and identify COVID hotspots near them.

The application also suggests users some precautionary measures and useful resource material to keep users abreast of the pandemic. The Prime Minister of India has been addressing the public to diffuse any baseless rumours and to inform them about the vaccination and other healthcare measures. For a majority part of the population, the pandemic is an unprecedented circumstance. As a result of this; uncertainty, fear and worry looms large. Due to the shutting down of shops, services and transport, many refuse to step out of their homes even though they adhere to the rules.

While a certain level of worry and precaution is the need of the hour, irrational fear and excessive doubting will not help the cause. One of the biggest learning from the pandemic has been to inculcate patience. Everybody needs to stay at home, regardless of whether they are bored, frustrated or tired of doing so. It is imperative to realize that things will start to get better gradually and in the process, sometimes, things might turn worse before getting better. Setbacks are part and parcel of any developmental process.

Additionally, another takeaway from this pandemic has been realizing that “change is the only constant”. All of us have been forced to adapt to these newer circumstances and have come across situations that we never imagined to face in our lifetimes. Students swiftly adapted to online learning, and teachers adapted to teaching within a virtual environment.

Businessmen, entrepreneurs and servicemen accustomed themselves to build an office environment at home and juggle house chores with their professional work. Countless other people have had to learn online banking and cashless transactions since the use of paper money is being discouraged.

BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

The effect of covid-19 and related lockdown phases on young peoples' worries and emotions: novel data from india.

$\nMeenakshi Shukla$

1 Department of Psychology, Magadh University, Bodh Gaya, India
2 Department of Psychology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
3 Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
4 Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences, and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University, London, United Kingdom

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented stress to young people. Despite recent speculative suggestions of poorer mental health in young people in India since the start of the pandemic, there have been no systematic efforts to measure these. Here we report on the content of worries of Indian adolescents and identify groups of young people who may be particularly vulnerable to negative emotions along with reporting on the impact of coronavirus on their lives. Three-hundred-and-ten young people from North India (51% male, 12–18 years) reported on their personal experiences of being infected by the coronavirus, the impact of the pandemic and its' restrictions across life domains, their top worries, social restrictions, and levels of negative affect and anhedonia. Findings showed that most participants had no personal experience (97.41%) or knew anyone (82.58%) with COVID-19, yet endorsed moderate-to-severe impact of COVID-19 on their academics, social life, and work. These impacts in turn associated with negative affect. Participants' top worries focused on academic attainments, social and recreational activities, and physical health. More females than males worried about academic attainment and physical health while more males worried about social and recreational activities. Thus, Indian adolescents report significant impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their life and are particularly worried about academic attainments, social and recreational activities and physical health. These findings call for a need to ensure provisions and access to digital education and medical care.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching consequences on the physical and mental health of individuals as well as the health of economies across the globe. While young people may be less susceptible to severe forms of the illness, suffering milder symptoms, lower morbidity, and better prognosis compared to adults ( 1 , 2 ) they have experienced an upsurge in stress ( 3 , 4 ) precipitating loneliness, anxiety and depression in many ( 5 – 8 ). As emotional symptoms in adolescence can become associated with many serious mental health outcomes including suicide, long-term physical health consequences, and significant healthcare burden ( 9 – 11 ), the effect of COVID-19 on young people's mental health could be more damaging in the longer run than the infection itself ( 12 ). Measuring early signs of mental health challenges such as worries and negative emotions in young people is thus an urgent priority for researchers ( 13 , 14 ) as well as policy-makers, including identifying those most vulnerable to mental health difficulties. While this information is crucial for both high- and low-income countries, countries with lower resources dedicated to mental health may benefit more from early forecasts of these needs.

India has one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the world with over 2.5 million confirmed cases and the death toll on the rise ( 15 , 16 ). The first case of COVID-19 was identified on January 30, 2020 in Kerala ( 17 ) in a student who had returned from Wuhan, China ( 18 ). However, since March 2020, there has been an upsurge in the spread of the infection. In response, the Government imposed a nationwide lockdown to prevent community transmission of the infection. Despite some regional differences in the extent of lockdown restrictions, based on total COVID-19 cases in that region ( 18 ), everyone in India has experienced closure of educational and training institutions; hotels and restaurants; malls, cinemas, gyms, sports centers; and places of worship. A recent correspondence article by Patra and Patro ( 19 ) speculated that school closures in particular may have been especially damaging for young people and highlighted the urgent need to address mental health issues in Indian adolescents. Yet there have been no such systematic efforts to our knowledge. Here, we report new data from a small cohort of young people from India. We describe their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their daily life. We describe the content of the most common worries reported by young people alongside quantitative measures of current negative and (absence of) positive emotions—symptom-markers of common mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression. We then assess which young people (in terms of gender, age, and socioeconomic status) are particularly susceptible to reporting more negative emotions and fewer positive emotions. In India, before the pandemic started, public awareness around mental health in young people had been increasing along with the recognition that such problems can be economically costly ( 20 ). Our data can thus signpost emerging, potentially costly mental health problems post-pandemic.

Participants and General Procedures

This study received approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (Ref No.: Dean/2020/EC/1975) and King's College London Research Ethics Committee (Ref: HR-19/20-18250). Participants were recruited between June 5, 2020 and July 12, 2020. Prospective participants from different states of North India (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, New Delhi, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat) and their parents were identified by circulating information about the study including eligibility criteria (aged 12–18 years; currently residing in India) through social media sites, such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Interested and eligible individuals were sent bilingual (Hindi and English) information sheets (one for young people, one for the parents if the participant was aged 12–17 years). Those who agreed to participate after reading the information sheet received the survey link for both the English and Hindi versions and were requested to complete one based on their language preference. The survey link began with a question about the participants' age. If the participant was 18 years, they viewed and completed a consent form with an electronic signature and their contact details for follow-up assessments. Any participant aged 12–17 years was presented with an assent form with a parental/guardian consent form. To verify that parent/guardian consents were authentic, follow-up phone contact was made with the parent/guardian using the provided contact details. Survey questions were not presented further for incomplete consent/assent forms.

The online survey was developed using Qualtrics software (Qualtrics, Provo, UT). The first third of the survey comprised questions around demographics, personal experiences and knowledge of others who had been infected by the coronavirus, extent of social restrictions and social contact, and the impact of the viral outbreak on various life domains. The second third of the survey included measures of poor mental health such as negative affect, anhedonia (absence of positive affect), and the content of worries. The final third included measures of well-being (positive aspects of mental health), more specific negative emotional experiences (loneliness, boredom) and a cognitive measure (positive and negative future imagery) (presented elsewhere). All Hindi translations used the translation-back-translation method. MS completed the first set of translations, which were back translated by TS. JL checked the back-translations. Where there were definitional discrepancies with the original scale, these were discussed with RP and VK and re-translations were done by MS. The average time taken by the participant to complete the survey was 20 min.

Demographics

Participants submitted information on their age, sex assigned at birth, family monthly income level, and number of family members.

Personal Experiences of and Knowledge of Close Others With COVID-19

Five items (with yes/no responses) measured the extent to which participants had experienced the infection: have you ever been affected or suspected of having the coronavirus infection at any time, do you currently have a confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus infection, are you currently suspected of having a diagnosis of coronavirus infection, have you had a past confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus infection but have now recovered, have you had a past suspected diagnosis of coronavirus infection but have now recovered. Five items (with yes/no responses) assessed whether participants knew others who had experienced the infection, including: a family member, friend, other acquaintance (e.g., classmate), other individual known indirectly (e.g., acquaintance of a family member/friend/acquaintance), know no one with the illness. If the participants endorsed one of the first 4 items, they were asked whether the individual affected had recovered, were still recovering, were hospitalized or had passed away.

Social Restrictions Associated With COVID-19

To describe the extent of reduced social contact, participants indicated the total number of days spent in self-isolation (i.e., not leaving the house), days in which they spent 15 min or more outside the house, days in which they had face-to-face contact with another person for 15 min or more, days in which they had a phone or video call with another person for 15 min or more.

Impact of COVID-19

Participants rated the impact of the outbreak (including associated lockdown measures) on work, study, finances, social life (including leisure activities), relationship with family, physical health, emotions, and caring responsibilities (for children/siblings or elderly/fragile family members) over the last 2 weeks on a 5-point scale (0 = not applicable/none, 1 = very mildly, 2 = mildly, 3 = moderately, 4 = severely). Responses were summed across items to create a total impact score. In the current sample, the internal consistency reliability for the impact items was 0.706.

Content of Worries

Participants were asked to write down their top 3 worries using free text boxes. All free text responses were reviewed by two researchers (MS, TS), who then independently derived “worry categories” based on these responses. The categories proposed by MS and TS were then reviewed by RP, VK, and JL. Where common categories were identified by both researchers these were used in the final worry categories. Where there were differences, these were resolved through discussions, using the life domains listed in the COVID-19 impact questions to help guide the identification of conceptually distinct areas. The final 12 categories along with their descriptions are shown in Table 4 . Using this coding scheme and definitions, all responses were coded by both MS and TS independently to assess inter-rater agreement (Cohen's Kappa reliability). This was 0.98 for Worry 1, 0.90 for Worry 2, and 0.91 for Worry 3.

Negative Affect

The 10 negative affect items from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule ( 21 ) were used to assess negative emotions. Respondents used a 5- point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely) to indicate the extent to which they experienced the given mood states during the last 2 weeks. A total negative affect score, ranging from 10 to 50, was created by summing across the scores of individual items. Cronbach's alpha was 0.878.

Nine items (nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, and 14) from the 14-item Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale ( 22 ) were used to index anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure; the remaining 7 items were deemed unlikely to apply during lockdown phases. Four response options were given for each item (strongly disagree, disagree, agree, or strongly agree), where strongly disagree and disagree were scored 1 and agree and strongly agree, scored 0. A summed score across items therefore ranged from 0 to 14, where higher scores indicated greater absence of positive affect. Cronbach's alpha was 0.723.

Statistical Analyses

After presenting the demographic characteristics of the sample, gender differences in age and income were analyzed using independent sample t -tests. Descriptives of young peoples' personal experiences of the infection, knowledge of others with the infection, the effect of lockdown on social isolation and contact with others and impact across other life domains were presented next. Before conducting any statistical analysis, the data were checked for fulfilling the assumptions for normality ( 23 ). The data did not show serious deviations from normality based on the histogram plots, except a slight positive skew for anhedonia. The skewness and kurtosis values of the data were also within the recommended limit of ±2 ( 24 , 25 ), most being < 1 (except for anhedonia which was >1). Thus, we employed parametric analyses for all the variables except for anhedonia which was explored using non-parametric tests. We investigated the degree to which the overall impact of COVID-19 across life domains varied as a function of gender (using independent samples t -test) and age and family income levels (using bivariate correlations). For the worry data, the percentage of individuals endorsing each worry category was calculated for each of the top 3 worries (first, second, third). However, in the final analysis, we collapsed across the top 3 worries to generate an overall percentage across participants of endorsing that worry among one of their top 3 worries. This meant, for instance, that any participant who rated the same worry across all 3 of their top worries was only represented once. The final percentage of young people endorsing the worry categories was compared across gender and for interpretability, by categorical age groups (Younger adolescents = 12–15 years; Older adolescents = 16–18 years) using chi-square tests. Finally, we presented data on negative affect and absence of positive affect (anhedonia); we investigated how these variables varied across gender, age, and per capita monthly income using multiple linear regression models; we further assessed whether inclusion of interaction terms significantly added to variance explained. Given a slight positive skew for anhedonia, we log-transformed this variable when conducting the regression analysis. To complement the multiple regression analysis of demographic predictors and their interactions, we also ran a series of parametric and non-parametric t -tests and correlations for negative affect and anhedonia, respectively, to assess the extent to which gender, age and family income levels individually associated with these variables. Correlations also assessed the extent to which the overall impact of COVID-19 associated with negative affect and anhedonia.

Demographic Characteristics

The final sample comprised 310 Asian-Indian adolescents (Mean age = 15.69 years; SD = 1.92) of whom 159 were males (Mean age = 15.60 years; SD = 1.98) and 151 were females (Mean age = 15.78 years; SD = 1.87). Males and females did not differ significantly in age, t (308) = −0.84, p = 0.40, d = 0.05. Furthermore, the Levene's test of equality of variances indicated an equal spread of scores in males and females ( F = 0.89, p = 0.34). Only 192 participants provided data for monthly per capita family income, which ranged from 125 to 150,000 Rupees (Mean = 9698.20; SD = 18315.22) with no significant mean or variance differences in the monthly per capita income between males and females [Male Mean = 8343.61; SD = 15065.95; Female Mean = 11439.82; SD = 21768.30; t (190) = −1.16, p = 0.25], d = 0.16, Levene's test of equality of variances: F = 2.63, p = 0.10.

Experiences of COVID-19

Item-level data for personal experiences and knowledge of close others with COVID-19 infections are presented in Table 1 for all participants; and males and females separately. Most young people had not personally experienced or known someone with the coronavirus infection. Of those who did report knowing someone infected with COVID-19, just under half (49.09%) reported that the affected person they knew had recovered from the infection, 12.73% reported that the person was still recovering, 14.54% reported that the known person was hospitalized, while 25.45% participants reported that the affected person passed away.

Table 1 . Personal experience of and knowledge of others with COVID-19 (Of note, while the first set of questions about personal experiences of COVID-19 reflects mutually exclusive response options (therefore adding up to 100%), the set of questions around knowledge of others are not all mutually exclusive. For instance, a participant reporting a family member as well as an acquaintance infected with the virus would be included twice, once when calculating the percentage of participants reporting an infected family member and once when calculating the percentage of participants having an infected acquaintance. Therefore, participants having knowledge of others with COVID-19 do not add up to 100%).

Social Restrictions and Impact of COVID-19

Item-level data for questions around social restrictions and reduced social contact are presented in Table 2 for all participants, for male and females separately; and correlations with age and monthly per capita family income. Compared to males, female participants spent significantly more days in self-isolation and more days engaging in phone or video call for 15 min or more. Participants with lower monthly per capita income spent more days in which they were out for 15 min or more, but fewer days engaging in phone or video calls. Age did not correlate with perceived social restrictions.

Table 2 . Restrictions associated with COVID−19.

Mean ratings of the impact of COVID-19 on various life domains are presented in Table 3 . Looking at how many young people endorsed moderate-to-severe impact for each domain, 43.6% reported this on their work, 56.8% on their studies, and 48.4% on their social life and recreational activities. Just under half of young people reported moderate-to-severe impact of the pandemic on their family relationships (48.4%), on their caring responsibilities (49.4%) and on their physical health (42.6%). However, 52% reported this for their emotions. For finances, moderate-to-severe impact was reported by 26.8% of young people. Sex, age, and per capita monthly income effects were examined on each domain-specific impact score and the total score, summed across mean ratings for each domain ( Table 3 ). No significant associations emerged between age and impact across any domain ( Table 3 ). Males reported higher mean impact scores for relationships with family members and physical health. Participants with lower per capita income experienced more impact of COVID-19 across life domains (indicated by total impact score) than those with higher monthly per capita income.

Table 3 . Impact of COVID-19 on psychosocial domains.

The percentages of young people endorsing each worry category for each of their top 3 worries are presented in the first three columns of Table 4 . These were used to derive the overall percentages of young people endorsing each worry category as one of their top 3 worries presented in Column 4. Using this fourth column, we noted that most participants reported education and studies (Academic) as one of their top worries. The second most common worry of participants centered around “Physical health, fitness, and safety.” Worries about “Social and recreational activities” also emerged as a major concern for several participants, followed by “Finances.” Some participants also listed “Global and societal concerns.” More females reported concerns about “Academic,” and “Physical health, fitness, and safety,” compared to males ( Table 4 ) while male participants reported more worries around “Social and recreational activities” activities than female participants. Comparison of worries across the adolescent groups revealed that while a higher percentage of older adolescents reported each of the worries as one of their top three worries compared to younger adolescents (except for “Unclear” category), the differences were statistically significant only for “Academic,” “Physical health, fitness, and safety,” “Global and societal concerns,” and “Other” categories ( Table 4 ).

Table 4 . Participants' reported content of top three worries over the last 2 weeks.

A stepwise multiple regression was conducted with negative affect as the dependent variable and age, gender, and per capita monthly income as predictors in step 1 and their interaction terms (i.e., age x gender, age x per capita monthly income, gender x per capita monthly income, and age x gender x per capita monthly income) entered in step 2. Results indicated that the model predicted by the demographic variables was non-significant, F (3,187) = 2.11, p = 0.10 (Adjusted R 2 = 0.017). Nor did the inclusion of interaction terms significantly increase variance explained, R 2 change = 0.004, p = 0.36, F (4,186) = 1.79, p = 0.13 (Adjusted R 2 = 0.016). These findings suggested that males and females did not differ on total negative affect, t (305) = −0.90, p = 0.37, d = 0.10 [Male mean = 21.67 (SD = 8.78), Female mean = 22.51 (SD = 7.85)], Levene's test of equality of variances: F = 0.46, p = 0.50. Nor were there significant correlations with age ( r = 0.09, p = 0.10) and per capita monthly income ( r = −0.11, p = 0.13). However, significant correlations emerged between negative affect and reported impact of COVID-19 across life domains ( r = 0.26, p < 0.001). Negative affect correlated (mostly) weakly but significantly with impact of COVID-19 on social life ( r = 0.13, p = 0.02), relationship with family ( r = 0.14, p = 0.01), physical health ( r = 0.20, p < 0.001), emotions ( r = 0.23, p < 0.001), and caring responsibilities ( r = 0.18, p < 0.001), but not with work ( r = 0.11, p = 0.06), study ( r = 0.07, p = 0.22), and finances ( r = 0.11, p = 0.06).

A stepwise multiple regression, similar to that conducted for “negative affect” was conducted for anhedonia but with the log-transformed scores since the anhedonia scores were slightly positively skewed. Results showed that the model with all demographic predictors was non-significant, Model 1: F (3,156) = 1.44, p = 0.23 (Adjusted R 2 = 0.008). Inclusion of interaction terms did not significantly increase the variance explained, R 2 change = 0.000, p = 0.85, F (4,155) = 1.08, p = 0.37 (Adjusted R 2 = 0.002). Assessment of the individual demographic predictors showed that males (Mean Rank = 165.43) reported higher levels of anhedonia than females (Mean Rank = 141.09); Mann–Whitney U = 9838.50, N1 = 156, N2 = 150, p = 0.01. Participants belonging to families with higher monthly per capita income experienced lower levels of anhedonia ( r s = −0.17, p = 0.02). However, there were no significant correlations between reported impact summed across life domains and anhedonia ( r s = −0.02, p = 0.74). While anhedonia correlated positively but weakly with impact of COVID-19 on physical health ( r s = 0.13, p = 0.02), it showed a significant but weak negative relationship with impact of COVID-19 on study ( r s = −0.20, p < 0.001) and social life ( r s = −0.11, p < 0.05). Anhedonia did not correlate significantly with the impact of COVID-19 on work ( r s = 0.01, p = 0.93), finances ( r s = −0.02, p = 0.70), relationship with family ( r s = 0.09, p = 0.13), emotions ( r s = −0.04, p = 0.45), and caring responsibilities ( r s = −0.02, p = 0.73).

This paper describes baseline data for a cohort of Indian adolescents recruited to a study aiming to assess the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on negative emotions, worries and strategies used to manage these emotions. Participants were recruited at a time when the total number of coronavirus-infected people in India stood at 236,184 and ended when the total number of infections was 879,466, showing a consistent rise during the period of (baseline) data collection ( 16 ). Yet, even during this period of rising infections, personal experiences and knowledge of others who had been exposed to the coronavirus infection were uncommon for most of our participants. Nonetheless, participants reported moderate-to-severe impact of COVID-19. The impact data together with qualitative data on their top worries, underscored academic studies as a salient area of concern for most young people in this cohort, a likely outcome of social distancing measures preventing school attendance and educational progress. Other salient worries for young people were concerns over the health and safety of self and loved ones and the absence of age-typical social and recreational activities, again expected worries emerging due to the pandemic itself and associated lockdown measures. Interestingly, young people commonly reported worries for their own finances as well as the Indian and global economy, and society more generally. Significantly higher percentage of older adolescents (16–18 years) than younger ones (12–15 years) were worried about their academics, physical health and safety, global and societal concerns and other kinds of worries, which can be expected since with increasing age, the academic work and curriculum gets more difficult and late adolescence is also the crucial time for career explorations ( 26 ). Adolescence is a time of emerging independence (taking on more responsibilities for their own future) but also of interdependence, where self-construal becomes linked to roles and commitments to other groups in society ( 27 ). Identifying the content of these stressors and worries can help governments decide where to propose subsequent policy changes and facilitate society-wide measures. Beyond the need for dedicated mental health services (helplines, centers) called for in earlier papers [e.g., ( 28 )], our data specifically underscore the need for investment of resources into the safe opening of schools, changes to the curriculum and/or the provision of digital education to all young people. Reassurance over access to quality medical care is also a priority.

Within these impacts and worries, there were some gender differences. More females than males reported Academic as a top worry (though this gender difference was not replicated in quantitative impact ratings), which is likely since Indian adolescent females have been reported “more sincere” toward studies than Indian adolescent males, potentially meaning they are more committed and motivated to academic achievement ( 29 ). Males reported a greater impact of COVID-19 on physical health in quantitative ratings; in the Indian context male adolescents are more likely to engage in outdoor sports ( 30 ) and experience fewer sociocultural barriers to outdoor physical activity ( 31 ) than female adolescents. This difference between genders where males spent more time out of the house than females, may also have emerged because males identified social and recreational activities as a top concern; females by contrast, followed restrictions associated with COVID reporting more days in social isolation and on phone/video calls. Perhaps relatedly, more females expressed worries over physical health, fitness, and safety from contracting the virus than male participants. Sedentary lifestyles resulting from the lockdown ( 32 ) may not only affect childhood obesity but can also significantly affect mental health of adolescents. Some interesting trends were also noted in relation to socio-economic status (SES) of the participants, as indexed by the per capita monthly income of their families. Lower SES was associated with a higher impact of COVID across life domains but particularly with impacts on physical health and family. Lower SES was associated with more days participants spent outside of the home, which could explain the reported impact on physical health. Adolescents belonging to lower SES may be residing in crowded living situations, which together with parental stress due to the economic crisis ( 33 ), may mean them having to navigate more complicated family dynamics. Higher SES was associated with more days spent on phone/video calls, probably because participants belonging to higher SES have greater access to laptops, smartphones, and/or tablets than those from lower SES.

In terms of negative and (absence of) positive emotions, means reported in our sample using translated versions of standardized questionnaires were commensurate with those reported in general youth population samples in the west ( 34 ). Self-reported negative affect did not correlate with age, SES and did not vary between males and females but was greater in those reporting more impact of COVID-19 across life domains. Males and those from lower SES reported more anhedonia. These findings pursued longitudinally in time can help us to identify those who show propensity for anxiety/depression across time allowing us to signpost need for mental health resources. Although anhedonia was negatively linked with the impact of COVID-19 on study and social life of the participants, these associations were weak.

There are several study limitations. First, the sample has been obtained using convenience sampling methods (using social media) and responders were only from a few North Indian states. Hence it is difficult to say how representative it is of 12–18 year old Indian adolescents. Moreover, given the study survey requirements, only participants who had access to the Internet and had a registered phone number (to verify parental consent) could be recruited, biasing the study sample composition. However, SES classes seemed to be adequately represented since using the Modified BG Prasad Socio-economic Classification 2019 ( 35 ), (although there was some missing data) the sample reflected the entire continuum of SES classes in India. Second, as data was collected online, qualitative responses were unprobed and very often single word answers had to be coded, affecting the reliability of these data. Nonetheless, inter-rater reliability using this coding scheme was high. Third, participants did not report on whether they lived in rural or urban areas of their respective cities, and therefore our data cannot speak to rural-urban differences in adolescents' worries, negative and positive emotions. Future studies should measure and compare the impact of rural and urban populations on these indices of poor mental health. Finally, many of the scales used were not standardized. However, as internal consistencies were acceptable, this study adds potential new measures for future studies of young people in the Indian context.

Conclusions

Our study showed that even though a handful of participants had personal experiences of or knew someone who had been infected by COVID-19, all our participants reported considerable impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their life, which was linked to higher negative affectivity. Adolescents also expressed worries about their studies, physical health and safety as well as social and recreational activities, with some gender differences. While our findings are unable to demonstrate causality between the impact of these COVID-19 related changes and worries, negative affect and anhedonia, nonetheless, the findings highlight the urgent need for government policy makers to take concrete steps to mitigate potential adverse effects of the pandemic on the mental health of Indian adolescents.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Institutional Ethics Committee, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (Ref No.: Dean/2020/EC/1975); King's College London Research Ethics Committee (Ref: HR-19/20-18250). Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants' legal guardian/next of kin.

Author Contributions

JL, MS, VK, RP, TH, LR, and TS contributed to the conception and design of the study. RP, TS, JL, VK, and MS contributed to the development of study materials, contributed to analysis, and interpretation of study data. MS and TS contributed to acquisition of study data. MS and JL wrote first draft of the paper. VK, RP, TS, TH, and LR critiqued the output for important intellectual content. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: COVID-19, young people, India, worries, emotions

Citation: Shukla M, Pandey R, Singh T, Riddleston L, Hutchinson T, Kumari V and Lau JYF (2021) The Effect of COVID-19 and Related Lockdown Phases on Young Peoples' Worries and Emotions: Novel Data From India. Front. Public Health 9:645183. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.645183

Received: 11 January 2021; Accepted: 26 April 2021; Published: 20 May 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Shukla, Pandey, Singh, Riddleston, Hutchinson, Kumari and Lau. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Jennifer Y. F. Lau, jennifer.lau@kcl.ac.uk ; Tushar Singh, tusharsinghalld@gmail.com

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

How COVID-19 deepens the digital education divide in India

A girl, who has missed her online classes due to a lack of internet facilities, sits on the ground in a circle drawn with chalk to maintain safe distance as she listens to pre-recorded lessons over loudspeakers, after schools were closed following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Dandwal village in the western state of Maharashtra, India, July 23, 2020. Picture taken July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Prashant Waydande - RC2P6I9O9AW2

A girl, who has missed her online classes due to a lack of internet facilities, listens to pre-recorded lessons over loudspeakers in the western state of Maharashtra Image: REUTERS/Prashant Waydande

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A total of 320 million learners in India have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and have transitioned to e-learning;
With huge regional and household disparities in access to the internet and technology, this transition has not been possible for all students and educators;
The rapid shift to e-learning prompted by the pandemic has resurfaced long-standing issues of inequality and a digital divide in India that must be addressed by future economic, education and digitalization policies.

The education system in India is facing a new crisis thanks to COVID-19. Besides the effect on short-term learning outcomes, extended school closures will result in a loss in human capital and diminished economic opportunities in the long run.

Have you read?

This innovative solution is helping indian children get an education during the pandemic, india's superpower is education. here's why it must build on this, covid-19 has intensified the digital divide.

Literature suggests that for countries with already low learning outcomes, high dropout rates, low resilience to shock and inadequate infrastructure to build back better the impact on education will be felt even more deeply.

What does this mean for India and its people?

India has the world’s second-largest school system, after China . Shutting schools to maintain social distancing amidst the COVID-19 crisis was the most logical solution to avoid community transmission. However, this prolonged closure has a disproportionately negative impact on the most vulnerable students. The pandemic has not only caused the wide rift in educational inequality to balloon but also exacerbated existing disparities .

A total of 320 million learners in India have been adversely affected and transitioned to the e-learning industry, which comprises a network of 1.5 million schools . An NSSO 2014 report highlights that 32 million children were already out of school before the pandemic — the majority of them belonging to the socially disadvantaged class in the country.

While the government endorses India as the flag-bearer of the digital revolution and acknowledges that it is a diverse and multilingual country, as supported by the recently drafted new education policy , e-learning platforms cannot replicate the various dialects, varied contexts and different lived experiences that are brought together by physical classrooms. If e-learning is the “new normal”, the policy must go further to address the feasibility of digitalization to ensure equity and quality in education.

The operational burden

E-learning, as the name suggests, relies on the availability and accessibility of technology, but little or no availability of electricity is a significant challenge to taking advantage of education online. In a recent 2017-18 survey , the Ministry of Rural Development found that only 47% of Indian households receive more than 12 hours of electricity and more than 36% of schools in India operate without electricity. This suggests that while students from families with better means of living can easily bridge the transition to remote learning, students from underprivileged backgrounds are likely to succumb to inefficiency and a lack of adaptation, either because of the inaccessibility of the technology or the low education of their parents to guide them through tech-savvy applications.

Aside from the stresses of access and affordability, a daunting task for a student is to keep up with their studies and peers. Unlike an active classroom setting, e-learning does not accommodate one-to-one discussions or problem solving with tutors. Reports emphasize that the receivers (students) are not the only ones struggling – teachers are too. Teachers and institutions are not always trained and equipped to transition to online teaching. Many teachers are unqualified when it comes to using new technologies and interfaces.

The digital divide and gender bias

NSSO 2014-2015 data suggests that economic factors are critical to children dropping out of school in India. The pandemic and lockdown have affected 1.4m migrant workers and others working in the unorganized sector (90% of India’s population is engaged in disorganized work). The migrant workers have either moved back home along with their children or are unable to send remittances home this season. In such a situation, the emphasis on technology-driven education is preventing many children in the country from continuing school education.

According to the Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India report , based on the 2017-18 NSSO, fewer than 15% of rural Indian households have internet access (as opposed to 42% urban Indian households). A mere 13% of people surveyed (aged above five) in rural areas — just 8.5% of females — could use the internet. Girls in vulnerable households face increased domestic duties inducing their inability to access online education either because of inadequate access to the internet and gadgets or because the male child and his teaching are prioritized. This silent exclusion of children belonging to families in distress may cause child labour and child marriage.

Regional disparities in internet access in India

Economic reform policies have always leaned towards hyper-digitalization. For a long time, they have discussed how to innovate working and studying with at-home technologies. However, the implementation of these policies has not addressed the educational inequalities that have today emerged as a crisis in the caste and class struggle in India.

The scope of e-learning is enormous and can help realize the potential of each student. There lie both opportunities and challenges for the government and the private sector. The aim should be to ensure equal and adequate access to such platforms as the country continues to globalize and catch up with advanced economies. If the Indian education system aims to transit to online learning in the future, it must emphasize policies that bridge the digital divide and move the country closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

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India’s young people are leading the way in the battle against COVID-19 through heroic acts of goodwill and support in their families and communities.

Through some of the harshest times, these young champions have stepped up as researchers, advocates, innovators and communicators on the frontline, promoting health and safety. Their courage and relentless determination to help those around them is a reminder of how we can achieve a healthier, safer and equal world.

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Making lives better

The Blue Brigade Volunteers rallying the village on creating awareness on COVID-19

“We are 'The Blue Brigade'. These are our stories of hope, resilience, and determination. We support women and children in rural and urban areas of Chhattisgarh to access essential services and to reduce adverse impact of COVID-19 and overcome challenges,” - The Blue Brigade Volunteers.

The efforts of about 25,000 youth enrolled in the Blue Brigade initiative by UNICEF India and the National Service Scheme (NSS) reached one million people across Chhattisgarh. They advocate for complete immunization of children under five years, support pregnant women to access antenatal care and safe delivery at their nearest health facility and inform the public about nutrition for children, adolescents and women. They also assist children to continue their learning even as schools are closed and raise awareness about child safety and protection.

Ensuring the most vulnerable are not left behind

Thanks to these youth volunteers in Madhya Pradesh, more residents in rural areas have decided to get vaccinated.

Misconceptions have resulted in several people in tribal-dominated areas in Madhya Pradesh being reluctant to take the COVID-19 vaccination. To overcome vaccine hesitancy, Youth4Children volunteers Divisha Parwar, Ritesh and Aarti Yadav went door-to-door to campaign across all villages in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.

“We check people’s oxygen levels, distribute face masks, teach them proper handwashing techniques and address issues around vaccine hesitancy,” - Divisha Parwar.

Their efforts are yielding positive results with more people choosing to get vaccinated. Along with the team of Seva Bharati and the State Health Department, and with the support of UNICEF India, these volunteers are trying to change people’s outlook towards vaccination.

Library on Wheels

We may have different 'waves' of COVID-19, there may be disruptions in learning and schools may have been closed, but not this Library on Wheels at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh. Teacher-student duo Usha Dubey and Mahima Singh are determined that no child should be deprived of access to education and learning.

During the lockdowns, many children in Singrauli’s Baidhan did not have access to mobile phones or digital devices. The idea of “Library on Wheels” was to reach these students with books using a scooter. Along with Mahima, many more girls are busy channelizing their time and efforts in implementing this as the local children are very interested to read and learn.

“We travel every day on our scooter with our 'Library on Wheels'. My conversations with my teacher and our journey are what I so look forward too. We are doing our small bit to ensure my friends continue to study and in small ways reimagining our future for me and my friends,” - Mahima Singh.

The child trying to bridge a digital divide

Hitarth Sheth, 17, is a social impact entrepreneur from Surat, Gujarat. He is the founder of Gujju Student, an online learning platform for Gujarati students.

“The relative lack of online content in minority languages and the absence of content concerning large swathes of the world, especially low and middle-income countries is an issue I encountered as a Gujarati school student in Class 9. It led me to develop an app called Gujju Student, now being used by thousands of students in Gujarat, India,” - Hitarth Sheth.

Hitharth’s work mostly revolves around education He highlights some of the most important issues being faced by students, the potential solutions and what can be done collectively do to ensure equal learning opportunities for every child, online.

Here’s the link to his blog The Digital Divide: How can we create equal learning opportunities for every child, online .

The power of youth and community radio

The ability to spread a message using the right medium is of utmost importance during a pandemic.

Ashwathy Murali, a community radio producer from the tribal Paniyar community, has helped to break COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The result? Today her entire village is vaccinated.

Wayanad, Kerala, is home to more than 3,000 tribal hamlets mostly belonging to the Paniyar community. The majority in the community had expressed fears and anxiety about the vaccination.

To tackle the fear, myths and misconceptions on the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination, along with the health department and the National Health Mission (NHM), Ashwathy Murali was assigned to do a programme on Radio Mattoli. Ashwathy’s creative skills to plan radio programmes in the Paniya tribal dialect created a better understanding of the importance of vaccines within her community.

“Our first attempt was to create awareness, build confidence and mitigate the fear among the Paniya people, through various community radio programs. I translated the discourses of expert doctors on COVID-19 vaccination and COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) into Paniya language and broadcasted them as radio programs. We also used jingles made in Paniya language based on the information provided by health department to create awareness via social media and radio,” - Ashwathy Murali.

The ‘fake news’ fighter

Althaf is a child rights advocate and awardee from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Due to COVID-19 his father lost his job and his mother is at home. His ambition is to become a film maker and he has done a lot of awareness videos and short films. Despite the difficult financial circumstances this aspiring young film maker is doing his bit to spread awareness and tackle misinformation in his community by sharing verified information on COVID-19.

“There has been a lot of incorrect misinformation on COVID-19 spreading through social media channels, please do not believe such messages or forward them without verifying the source. Please refer to verified information from UNICEF India, WHO, MoHFW and Tamil Nadu government website or social media channels. Since I am following these channels, I share the same with the people in my community and tell them not to spread false information. I urge you all to do the same,” - Althaf.

Many youth advocates like Althaf have inspired us and supported us through this pandemic. Like him, we too can do our bit to share correct information.

Creating art to cope

Aditya is an artist from Patna, Bihar. The ongoing crisis across the globe has restricted his movement. His way to cope with the first and second waves of the pandemic was through his art.

“During the lockdown I had plenty of time, I explored many things about myself, my hobbies, and my dreams. Most of the time, I was designing and creating illustrations, filling some colors, I wish I could do this in life too. I am engaged in social campaigns for Bihar Youth for Child Rights. In March, we had done a campaign WE MEN WITH WOMEN, and I prepared posters, edited videos, and contributed to a good cause,” - Aditya.

Many of Aditya’s friends and his family members e tested positive for COVID-19. He made sure to be there for them virtually and shared factual, useful information to put their minds at ease. He is worried that many still do not wear a mask, wash their hands regularly or maintain a minimum two-meter distance. The only way we can win this battle is if we fight it together by following these steps says Aditya.

Harnessing the strength of technology

The pandemic has disrupted the learning of an entire generation. Young minds like Adito are advocating for using digital platforms and technology to educate, teach and create job opportunities for themselves and others.

“I want to support my family financially. One of my cousins taught me about YouTube and how to be a YouTuber and make money out of it. I did not have the requisite equipment like tripod, mic, laptop, editing software or a good smart phone. Right now, a lot of children are attending classes online, and are facing technical difficulties due to lack of digital knowledge. I felt there was a need and despite the lack of proper equipment I started making technical learning videos,” - Adito.

Let’s support young champion leaders like Adito who inspire us all to do more!

Innovating to improve awareness on COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviors

COVID-19 has brought daily life to a standstill for many across India, but young volunteers are working relentlessly to keep people safe during these tough times. Ashok and other volunteers have been working with the local authorities in Chennai to increase awareness about how to protect each other against COVID-19. Ashok is keen to promote positive behaviors to prevent COVID-19 including sharing the facts about and the benefits of vaccination. UNICEF is supporting the local authorities by training and deploying community level volunteers like Ashok and others to support frontline workers to create awareness on COVID-19.

“I am part of this wonderful awareness programme at Chennai Central Railway Station. Some people are not wearing face masks properly. Some were using dirty handkerchiefs. We distributed free face masks and sanitizers for them to use. Some were eating paan and spitting in public places, and we warned them about its impact,” - Ashok.

Let’s support young people like Ashok who are helping us defeat this pandemic.

Using the power of Social Media and apps to spread accurate and verified information

Mantasha is pursuing her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education. Mantasha believes in giving back to the society during this challenging time. She is an active youth volunteer and for the past two years has been creating awareness on preventing COVID-19 on social media.

“I believe in building a selfless society through acts of kindness. During COVID-19, I created and shared videos with authentic information to help people. We also collected and distributed provisions to families hit by the pandemic,” - Mantasha.

Mantasha continues to help people with verified information about COVID-19. She has also provided books and stationery to students who are unable to access education easily due to this pandemic.

Lesson of the Day: ‘As Covid-19 Devastates India, Deaths Go Undercounted’

In this lesson, students will learn about the crisis in India and explore ways to help.

By Nicole Daniels and Katherine Schulten

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Lesson Overview

Note to teachers: This lesson draws on Times resources that contain graphic images and descriptions of death and cremation. Please preview the featured article, “ As Covid-19 Devastates India, Deaths Go Undercounted ” by Jeffrey Gettleman, Sameer Yasir, Hari Kumar and Suhasini Raj, to make sure it is appropriate for your students.

India is in crisis. The country is witnessing perhaps the worst crisis any nation has suffered since the pandemic began. Numbers of infections and deaths are soaring. Coronavirus vaccines are in short supply, hospital beds are full, oxygen supplies are running low, and desperate people are dying in line while waiting to see doctors.

In this lesson, you will learn about why epidemiologists believe cases are surging, why many say deaths are being undercounted, and how the virus is affecting individuals and families. Then, you will think about the role your own country’s government might play in alleviating this crisis, and how young people can offer support.

What do you know about the situation in India right now, as a second wave of coronavirus devastates the country? Have you seen images or read reporting? Heard from friends or relatives who are affected?

If you are reading this from India, The Times would like to hear from you. As the editors of this call-out write, “We want to see what you see and understand what you have endured, and we want to know what you’re doing to comfort one another and pass the time until India can return to its bustle and vibrancy.”

If you are learning about this crisis from somewhere else in the world, and haven’t read or seen any reporting, one quick way to understand what it is like to live where a disease is spreading at great speed and scale is to read the first-person dispatch by The Times’s New Delhi bureau chief, Jeffrey Gettleman. Here is how it begins:

Crematories are so full of bodies, it’s as if a war just happened. Fires burn around the clock. Many places are holding mass cremations, dozens at a time, and at night, in certain areas of New Delhi, the sky glows. Sickness and death are everywhere. Dozens of houses in my neighborhood have sick people. One of my colleagues is sick. One of my son’s teachers is sick. The neighbor two doors down, to the right of us: sick. Two doors to the left: sick. “I have no idea how I got it,” said a good friend who is now in the hospital. “You catch just a whiff of this …,” and then his voice trailed off, too sick to finish. He barely got a bed. And the medicine his doctors say he needs is nowhere to be found in India. I’m sitting in my apartment waiting to catch the disease. That’s what it feels like right now in New Delhi with the world’s worst coronavirus crisis advancing around us. It is out there, I am in here, and I feel like it’s only a matter of time before I, too, get sick.

What is your reaction to this description? Does your own experience of this pandemic, even if it was much less extreme, allow you to put yourself in Mr. Gettleman’s shoes and understand some of what he and his neighbors must be feeling and thinking? If it moves you to want to help, you’ll find resources for that in the Going Further section, below.

In the piece you are about to read, you’ll learn much more about why and how infections have surged. Before you read it, however, scan the images. How do they make visible some of what Mr. Gettleman describes? What do they tell you about the crisis that you did not know before? What questions do they raise for you?

Questions for Writing and Discussion

Read the article and then answer the following questions:

1. The first several paragraphs of this piece summarize the urgency of the situation in India right now. What details stand out for you?

2. What did Suresh Bhai, a worker at one of the large cremation grounds in Ahmedabad, share about his experience as a worker in recent months? What does this reveal about some of the issues with death counts in India?

3. How has the coronavirus pandemic evolved in the last several months in India? What are some possibilities for what contributed to the rise in cases?

4. What has India’s vaccine rollout been like so far?

5. According to the World Health Organization, under what circumstances should deaths be recorded as Covid-19-related? According to the article, what are some of the reasons that Covid-19-related deaths have not been appropriately recorded in India?

6. How did Rupal Thakkar’s death, and the way it was recorded, prompt outrage and result in a change?

7. Why might families not want their loved ones’ deaths to be publicized as Covid-19-related? Have you heard of examples of this in your own community? Do you think there is ever shame around contracting, or dying from, Covid-19?

8. Why might a political agenda also be at play?

Going Further

Taking action.

The Biden administration, under increasing pressure to address a devastating surge of the coronavirus in India , said on Sunday that it had removed impediments to the exporting of raw materials for vaccines and would also supply India with therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators and personal protective gear.

Do you think these actions from the Biden administration are enough? Why or why not? Or do you believe that the United States, and other countries where infections rates are lower, should be doing more to support the medical needs in countries like India? If yes, what specifically do you think they should do?

Individually

Donors around the world are giving money for meals, medical expenses, personal protective equipment and oxygen tanks, among other essential supplies. The Times has published a guide called How to Help India Amid the Covid Crisis that lists international and local organizations one can contribute to directly.

If learning about this crisis has inspired you to help, how could someone your age be useful? For instance, could you inform others about what is happening? Find a creative way to raise funds for one of these organizations? Write letters to your representatives about your government’s role? Or, together with your friends, relatives or classmates, could you come up with even more ways to help?

About Lesson of the Day

• Find all our Lessons of the Day in this column . • Teachers, watch our on-demand webinar to learn how to use this feature in your classroom.

Nicole Daniels joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2019 after working in museum education, curriculum writing and bilingual education. More about Nicole Daniels

COVID-19 and its impact on educational environment in India

Affiliations.

1 College of Management and Commerce, Srinivas University, Karnataka, India.
2 College of Business Administration, Kingdom University, Riffa, Bahrain.
3 Department of Economics and Finance, College of Business Administration, University of Bahrain, Zallaq, Bahrain. [email protected].
4 Department of Commerce, Mangalore University, Karnataka, India.
5 Department of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Commerce, St. Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangalore, India.
PMID: 34981385
PMCID: PMC8723802
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15306-2

The impact of COVID-19 has revamped all aspects of human life including education sector, and it has completely changed the educational environment across the globe. Due to the pandemic, the methodical functions of educational institutions have stopped, and new phases have started like online class, online evaluation, and indoor activities. Students are the vital players in education sector, and their opinions play an indispensable role while formulating the policies by the government. In the pandemic, students' perspective on education environment finds new dimension. Therefore, this paper has made an honest attempt to know the coastal Karnataka students' stance on college educational environment. In this study, six major components of education environment are considered, namely (1) online class, (2) teaching and learning, (3) evaluation, (4) college administration, (5) extracurricular activities, and (6) teachers. The study is descriptive in nature, and data was collected from 347 college students of Coastal Karnataka. To support the main objective, a hypothesis has been developed with the help of review of literature and is tested by using ANOVA and independent t-test. The path analysis is used to analyze the casual relationships among components of college educational environment, overall perception, and student performance. The result of the study found that the college students have positive perception towards online class (M=3.14), teaching and learning (M=3.704), evaluation (M=3.38), college and administration (M=3.83), extracurricular activities (M=3.87), and teachers (M=3.63). The result of the hypothesis testing revealed that there is no significant difference in the student perception towards various components of college education system. Path analysis results show that there is relation and effect between components of college education, overall perception, and students' performance. The study concludes that students agree with policies and actions taken by colleges to carry out classes during COVID-19 pandemic irrespective of demographic and educational difference.

Keywords: COVID-19; Education; Educational environment; Post-pandemic; Students.

How to Write About Coronavirus in a College Essay

Students can share how they navigated life during the coronavirus pandemic in a full-length essay or an optional supplement.

Writing About COVID-19 in College Essays

Serious disabled woman concentrating on her work she sitting at her workplace and working on computer at office

Getty Images

Experts say students should be honest and not limit themselves to merely their experiences with the pandemic.

The global impact of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, means colleges and prospective students alike are in for an admissions cycle like no other. Both face unprecedented challenges and questions as they grapple with their respective futures amid the ongoing fallout of the pandemic.

Colleges must examine applicants without the aid of standardized test scores for many – a factor that prompted many schools to go test-optional for now . Even grades, a significant component of a college application, may be hard to interpret with some high schools adopting pass-fail classes last spring due to the pandemic. Major college admissions factors are suddenly skewed.

"I can't help but think other (admissions) factors are going to matter more," says Ethan Sawyer, founder of the College Essay Guy, a website that offers free and paid essay-writing resources.

College essays and letters of recommendation , Sawyer says, are likely to carry more weight than ever in this admissions cycle. And many essays will likely focus on how the pandemic shaped students' lives throughout an often tumultuous 2020.

But before writing a college essay focused on the coronavirus, students should explore whether it's the best topic for them.

Writing About COVID-19 for a College Application

Much of daily life has been colored by the coronavirus. Virtual learning is the norm at many colleges and high schools, many extracurriculars have vanished and social lives have stalled for students complying with measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"For some young people, the pandemic took away what they envisioned as their senior year," says Robert Alexander, dean of admissions, financial aid and enrollment management at the University of Rochester in New York. "Maybe that's a spot on a varsity athletic team or the lead role in the fall play. And it's OK for them to mourn what should have been and what they feel like they lost, but more important is how are they making the most of the opportunities they do have?"

That question, Alexander says, is what colleges want answered if students choose to address COVID-19 in their college essay.

But the question of whether a student should write about the coronavirus is tricky. The answer depends largely on the student.

"In general, I don't think students should write about COVID-19 in their main personal statement for their application," Robin Miller, master college admissions counselor at IvyWise, a college counseling company, wrote in an email.

"Certainly, there may be exceptions to this based on a student's individual experience, but since the personal essay is the main place in the application where the student can really allow their voice to be heard and share insight into who they are as an individual, there are likely many other topics they can choose to write about that are more distinctive and unique than COVID-19," Miller says.

Opinions among admissions experts vary on whether to write about the likely popular topic of the pandemic.

"If your essay communicates something positive, unique, and compelling about you in an interesting and eloquent way, go for it," Carolyn Pippen, principal college admissions counselor at IvyWise, wrote in an email. She adds that students shouldn't be dissuaded from writing about a topic merely because it's common, noting that "topics are bound to repeat, no matter how hard we try to avoid it."

Above all, she urges honesty.

"If your experience within the context of the pandemic has been truly unique, then write about that experience, and the standing out will take care of itself," Pippen says. "If your experience has been generally the same as most other students in your context, then trying to find a unique angle can easily cross the line into exploiting a tragedy, or at least appearing as though you have."

But focusing entirely on the pandemic can limit a student to a single story and narrow who they are in an application, Sawyer says. "There are so many wonderful possibilities for what you can say about yourself outside of your experience within the pandemic."

He notes that passions, strengths, career interests and personal identity are among the multitude of essay topic options available to applicants and encourages them to probe their values to help determine the topic that matters most to them – and write about it.

That doesn't mean the pandemic experience has to be ignored if applicants feel the need to write about it.

Writing About Coronavirus in Main and Supplemental Essays

Students can choose to write a full-length college essay on the coronavirus or summarize their experience in a shorter form.

To help students explain how the pandemic affected them, The Common App has added an optional section to address this topic. Applicants have 250 words to describe their pandemic experience and the personal and academic impact of COVID-19.

"That's not a trick question, and there's no right or wrong answer," Alexander says. Colleges want to know, he adds, how students navigated the pandemic, how they prioritized their time, what responsibilities they took on and what they learned along the way.

If students can distill all of the above information into 250 words, there's likely no need to write about it in a full-length college essay, experts say. And applicants whose lives were not heavily altered by the pandemic may even choose to skip the optional COVID-19 question.

"This space is best used to discuss hardship and/or significant challenges that the student and/or the student's family experienced as a result of COVID-19 and how they have responded to those difficulties," Miller notes. Using the section to acknowledge a lack of impact, she adds, "could be perceived as trite and lacking insight, despite the good intentions of the applicant."

To guard against this lack of awareness, Sawyer encourages students to tap someone they trust to review their writing , whether it's the 250-word Common App response or the full-length essay.

Experts tend to agree that the short-form approach to this as an essay topic works better, but there are exceptions. And if a student does have a coronavirus story that he or she feels must be told, Alexander encourages the writer to be authentic in the essay.

"My advice for an essay about COVID-19 is the same as my advice about an essay for any topic – and that is, don't write what you think we want to read or hear," Alexander says. "Write what really changed you and that story that now is yours and yours alone to tell."

Sawyer urges students to ask themselves, "What's the sentence that only I can write?" He also encourages students to remember that the pandemic is only a chapter of their lives and not the whole book.

Miller, who cautions against writing a full-length essay on the coronavirus, says that if students choose to do so they should have a conversation with their high school counselor about whether that's the right move. And if students choose to proceed with COVID-19 as a topic, she says they need to be clear, detailed and insightful about what they learned and how they adapted along the way.

"Approaching the essay in this manner will provide important balance while demonstrating personal growth and vulnerability," Miller says.

Pippen encourages students to remember that they are in an unprecedented time for college admissions.

"It is important to keep in mind with all of these (admission) factors that no colleges have ever had to consider them this way in the selection process, if at all," Pippen says. "They have had very little time to calibrate their evaluations of different application components within their offices, let alone across institutions. This means that colleges will all be handling the admissions process a little bit differently, and their approaches may even evolve over the course of the admissions cycle."

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Impact of COVID-19: a particular focus on Indian education system

Pushpa gothwal.

1 Amity School of Enginnering and Technology, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur, India

Bosky Dharmendra Sharma

2 Mayoor Private School, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Nandita Chaube

3 Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, India

Nadeem Luqman

4 Ansal University, New Delhi, India

The COVID-19 pandemic has stirred up the world, and its overwhelming impacts can be seen from micro to macro level, that is, from an individual’s day-to-day functioning to the broader level—health sector, finance sector, and off course, the education sector. The younger generation is considered to be the torchbearer of the society. As such, their nutrition, health, safety, and providing education for a holistic development being basic essential needs should be a prime concern for policymakers and all nations worldwide. The present theoretical framework sheds light on the negative as well as the positive impact of COVID-19 on education. It presents a critical analysis of how the education sector experienced a shift from contact teaching to digital learning and got a boost through various online platforms despite having its limitations at the same time including the multidimensional impact of uncertainty and difficulties in sustaining. The chapter also emphasizes the effects of home confinements on students and teachers as well. In this way, the present chapter puts forth the pros and cons of online teaching including various other related aspects.

12.1. Introduction

The word COVID was first discovered in Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto in 1963. Since then, various mutations were found in different parts of the world, but COVID-19, which was discovered toward the end of 2019, will be written in the history of 2020. The history indicates such incidences every 100 years. Various types of flu infections such as plague (1720), cholera (1817), Spanish flu (1918), and corona virus (2019) have been declared as pandemics. The diagonals of impact or the crater created due to the situation are major concerns today.

The novel corona virus (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. It is established that this virus influences the aged persons more ( Zhou et al., 2020 ); however, this view was countered ( Bhatnagar et al., 2020 ) and few others have done descriptive and mathematical analysis of COVID spread and made few predictions upon it which are to be observed ( Harjule et al., 2020 , Kumari et al., 2020 , Singh et al., 2020 ). It has globally impacted many sectors like small and large scale businesses, the world economy, health sector, transportation, wages, industries, education, etc. It is evident by the news reports and other reliable sources that this pandemic has majorly brought adverse consequences. However, it is evident that during the global lockdown, a lot of curricular activities, including regular courses, webinars, faculty development programs, lectures, training, and certification programs, have much flourished when it comes to the education sector. Where this online facility has made education easier and comfortable, it has its limitations also. Here, we have emphasized the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector. As per the UNESCO report, the worldwide lockdown has affected over 91% of the world’s student population ( UNESCO, 2019 ). This estimation predicts that the corona virus will adversely impact over 290 million students across 22 countries. The same report estimates that about 32 crore students are affected in India, including those in schools and colleges.

In this chapter we discuss the impact of COVID-19 with a particular focus on education. This chapter is organized as follows: Section 12.1 is introduction; Section 12.2 throws light on impact of COVID-19 on education, which has two subsections—effect of home confinement on children and teachers, and a multidimensional impact of uncertainty. Section 12.3 describes sustaining the education industry during COVID-19 and conclusions are mentioned in the last section.

12.2. Impact of COVID-19 on education

During this pandemic education sector has experienced gross changes such as a shift from regular contact classes to online platforms, modified teaching pedagogy adopted by teachers, conduction of examinations and competitive exams etc. As per the UNESCO report in the education sector, 1,190,287,189 learners have been affected and 150 countrywide closures ( UNESCO, 2019 ). The effect of COVID-19 on the education and mental health of students and academic staff has been explored in the studies ( Cao et al., 2020 , Sahu, 2020 ). It presents some challenges due to COVID-19 on education. First, to protect the traditional teaching system, which is entirely shifted to online teaching, which requires teachers’ training, strong technical support, and high-speed internet, which is not accessible for everyone. Second, the assessment and evaluation system using an online platform does not provide student performance accuracy because the originality of performance cannot be assured ( Ruder, 2019 ). The students may use some other device to take help while answering the questions asked during the assessment. The third is the research platform, including international travel, cancellation, and postponing conferences and seminars. Other research activities have adversely affected the work ( Hutton, Dudley, Horowitz-Kraus, DeWitt, & Holland, 2020 ). However, many such events have shifted to online platforms based on the possibilities, which has increased the participation and popularity of these events ( Cao et al., 2020 ). The fourth concern is student mental health and career, which is grossly affected due to this outbreak ( Sahu, 2020 ).

Studies have been conducted where the impact of COVID-19 on physicians’ education was to be assessed for which they conducted seminars based on self-regulation theory and found significant results ( Clark et al., 1998 , Ferrel and Ryan, 2020 ). Ferral and Ahmad discussed the pandemic’s impact due to which some hospitals in the United Kingdom canceled students’ internship and observations ( Ahmed et al., 2020 , Ferrel and Ryan, 2020 ). This was reassured by another study, which concluded that, as a preventive measure, many hospitals are not permitting students in hospitals, which is adversely influencing their education ( Burgess & Sievertsen, 2020 ).

Edgar discussed the effects of COVID-19 on higher secondary education and the impact of using Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics education. In this study, the authors collected data through the telephonic mode from public school teachers, where they found a significant drop in these students’ academic performance ( Iyer, Aziz, & Ojcius, 2020 ).

COVID-19 has brought the entire education methods from traditional to online modes. There are various online platforms available for learners and professionals. The students can work with peace of mind while staying at their homes where their time, energy, and money are not wasted traveling. They are not fatigued and hence can invest themselves more in comparison to preCOVID conditions. Studying at home has also provided a more significant benefit to the students being directly monitored by parents. When it comes to theory classes, the online platform has given them a vast chance to excel. However, the practical assignments that the students are supposed to conduct in laboratories and fields have seen a major constraint. This has created a significant limitation of teaching for teachers when they cannot provide the demonstrations to the students in the absence of laboratory instruments and other necessary practical materials.

However, this has led to the timely completion of courses despite the complete lockdown but with incomplete knowledge among students whose courses are more practical. Therefore a combination of these pros and cons has brought the education world to a different level.

Several online platforms are available for lectures, training etc., which have made learning easier ( Bambakidis & Tomei, 2020 ). However, in the absence of contact teaching, a one-to-one discussion between a teacher and students is adversely influenced. The chances of filling this lacuna are also not assured because the students will probably be deprived of contact learning before being promoted to the next level. This again leads to next level difficulties that these students may face shortly soon due to unclear concepts of previous standards/grades ( Sintema, 2020 ). Also, in the absence of a formal class environment, the student’s concentration is more likely to be adversely influenced.

Where the online facility has provided the ease of learning through flexi classes, there is no surety that the student himself or herself is attending the class. Due to network troubles, sometimes the teacher and students face many disturbances. Students sometimes get involved in mischievous activities by making fake email IDs, making noises, or giving unnecessary comments etc. The teacher faces difficulty maintaining discipline. However, this online mode is more appropriate for some disciplines than direct contact teachings, such as web designing, etc., where the practical demonstration can be better understood through online presentation and screen sharing options.

On the other hand, students from the low socio-economic class are getting no chance to experience online learning. This creates a huge and unfair social stratification where learners are left deprived of their legitimate right to education. In developing countries like India, where a huge population belongs to rural backgrounds, people are not so technology friendly. This is another challenge for the Indian education system despite the availability of technological facilities. This difficulty is faced by either or both teacher and student. Teachers who are more apt and comfortable in contact teaching cannot give their 100% through online lectures. A very advantageous and constructive aspect that emerged during the lockdown is that many professionals started throwing free online courses, training programs, workshops, webinars, etc., which have given a good chance to all the learners to update their credentials at no expense. People having busy official schedules who are usually not able to invest time in such programs are now getting a chance to upgrade themselves. On the other hand, young professionals are getting a fair chance to present themselves with more confidence.

When it comes to the physiological and cognitive effects, online education has both advantages and disadvantages. Recently, a study was conducted at Harvard Medical School on digital devices’ interference in sleep and creativity. It was found that the use of digital media plays a significant role in making the neural connection for a growing human brain. However, the screen usage of more than the recommended hours can lead to lower brain development. This also leads to the disruption of sleep by undersecretion of the melatonin hormone.

Another major concern is the availability of study resources. Not all the study material is available through online mode. Several offline materials are usually available in the library but not in the online database. A student is being deprived of this material. Furthermore, the educational institutions, which have decided to conduct online examinations, face difficulty in preparing question papers. The question papers are mostly multiple choices that do not give the student a window to write descriptive answers, which are equally crucial for a student to learn. This improves the writing skills of the student.

Where the online conduct of classes and conducting examinations has its challenges, the evaluation, on the other hand, has become more convenient and transparent between the teacher and student, where the students come to know about their performance. There are platforms that allow the faculty to give online assignments and evaluation. Online teaching does not require a large infrastructure for the conduct of classes. Instead, a strong IT team is sufficient to make it workable. In direct contact teaching, the other teaching and stationary materials are required, in the absence of which teaching is likely to suffer. The online teaching platform has covered up this drawback of direct contact teaching. However, online teaching makes people more digitally dependent by reducing direct and one-to-one social interaction. This is gradually making people more technology addicts.

12.2.1. Effect of home confinement on children and teachers

Due to the COVID-19 crisis (in more than 150 countries), all levels of the education system, from preschool to tertiary education, have been affected ( Bjorklund and Salvanes, 2011 , Vahid, 2020 ), wherein gradual closure of schools and universities took place. Similar situations prevailed in the past as well, during the pandemics ( Klaiman, Kraemer, & Stoto, 2011 ). Being confined to home or lockdown has impacted lives and livelihood across different spheres and so the education sector too, though have been able to meet the demands ensuring that via “online learning,” “homeschooling,” “virtual learning,” or “E-learning” children’s educational attainment remains undisrupted mainly ( IAU, 2020 ).

At the tertiary level, almost all universities and colleges have offered online courses and switched to virtual lectures, classes, and webinars ( Strielkowski, 2020 ), since digital learning has emerged as a significant aid for education from just an extracurricular facility. Although the contingencies of digital technologies rendition go past a stop-gap solution during the crisis, it has helped answer a new set of questions entirely about what, how, where, and when students shall learn. With the help of technology, students and teachers can ingress resource materials and not limit just to the text books in different formats, styles at their own pace and time by just going online. Besides teachers, smart digital technologies do not just teach only. Instead, it simultaneously observes, monitors how we study, how we learn, what interests us, the tasks that we involve in, the kind of problems that we face and find difficult to solve and adapt accordingly to meet the needs of the learner with more accuracy, specifications as compared to traditional learning within classrooms ( Kumar, 2020 ).

However, the necessary measures taken are highly applaudable; there are various issues that arise due to prolonged school closures and home confinement ( Cao et al., 2020 ) impacting students’ well-being in COVID time wherein students feel physically less active, sleep irregularities, dietary changes marked by weight gain along with low motivation ( Wickens, 2011 ), boredom to getting more anxious, and irritable as well. Abundant research has been carried out, suggesting having adverse effects on physical and psychological health in school-going children and students pursuing higher education at colleges and universities ( Liu et al., 2019 ). Nevertheless, at the tertiary level, the closing of campuses left them with no choice to leave hostels and dormitories and return to their hometown; however, many got stuck too, leaving them helpless and anxious ( Grubic, Badovinac, & Johri, 2020 ).

The switch to online education ensures minimum loss of studies suffered, and progress and attainment are also closely monitored via timely assessment and evaluations. Internal learning evaluation and assessments are considered to have high significance as it demonstrates the students’ learning needs and support for taking remedial actions ( Pandit, 2020 ). However, having been shifted to online platforms and accessed remotely, a major concern that emerged was the availability of proper internet facility networks and technology, especially in lower socio-economic zones and strata. In many countries, via online portals, TV and radio channels were started and the concern was addressed by the respective governments ( Gyamerah, 2020 ).

Imparting of average grade points based on the course completion for students pursuing higher studies, deferring the exams till further notice, promotion to the next level using “predictive grade,” were announced by few higher education institutions and schools. As per Gonzalez et al. (2020) and Black and Wiliam (2018) , the evaluation method and assessment would also change from traditional high stake to small project-based and activity, assignment-based evaluation shortly as the pandemic continues. At higher education institutes, there is a hold on the ongoing research projects and field works. A virtual internship is provided and various scientific research conferences and symposiums have been postponed and canceled ( Viner et al., 2020 ). They have moved online, whereby these virtual conferences have adversely affected networking opportunities and informal communication, creating a wide gap, especially in case of the inequalities prevailed in accessing technology to educational resources and the absence of proper remedial measures ( Gjoshi & Kume, 2014 ).

It is perceived that higher education can be relatively managed with digital learning or remote schooling ( Srivastava, 2020 ). As such, most of the research carried out to study the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on education discusses the adverse effects in terms of learning and student well-being ( Herold, 2017 ) due to home confinement and digital learning or homeschooling taking place with parental issues and concerns to provide childcare management and guidance required for their distance learning programs, availability of resources, and their socio-economic conditions ( Hiremath, Kowshik, Manjunath, & Shettar, 2020 ).

Despite the ongoing conditions prevailing due to COVID-19, online learning has said to have long-term positive implications that can be expected in comparison to the earlier research studies that suggested that student well-being is affected by the quality of learning ( Mahboob, 2020 ). A recent study sheds light on the significant positive impact of COVID-19 on learning efficiency and performances by adopting online learning strategies. To better understand the teaching and learning process during this crisis, it is imperative to have an education reform made to provide necessary teacher training, making further advancement of the new normal digital learning for functioning smoothly in the future as well ( Stephens, Leevore, Coryell, & Pena, 2017 ).

Furthermore, according to WHO, COVID-19 may never be gone. Instead, people have to learn to live with it. As such, by the policymakers, distance learning is embedded in normal education, so as to help students learn coping skills to deal effectively, minimizing negative impacts in case of crises encountered.

However, as a need of the hour, education shall increasingly embrace online/virtual classrooms, keeping in mind the exposure to students’ screen time in a day, planning of activities wherein parental involvement, assistance, and guidance are considered ( India Today, 2020 ). More physical education, music, dance, home gardening along with art integration should be focussed so as to enhance creativity, and affective domains that advertently shall enhance motivation, physical activities ( Sprang & Silman, 2013 ) and in adolescence too, continuous sitting, eye strains ( Levy & Ramim, 2017 ) and issues like cyber bullying, video game addictions and social media browsing can be put under control. Even for university students, through distance learning, they can collaborate with others, watch lectures prerecorded, and have fruitful discussions. The lecturer can be more of a facilitator rather than an instructor. Distance learning can be as effective as a traditional face-to-face mode of learning. Students have more family time; they can engage at their own pace ( Simonson, Zvacek, & Smaldino, 2019 ).

Moreover, there are barriers to distance learning and are unique to every country. However, its use has worldwide benefits that can be counted on, especially educating, imparting training on various focussed topics to general hobbies ( Bell et al., 2017 ). For educators, having been faced with so many challenges to adjust and get accustomed to the distance learning platform, it is highly commendable to have done so effectively. Still, they find it convincing, and a feel-good factor also persists, as work from home has helped manage home, take care of one’s self and family as mostly the time is spent on daily commuting, travels to reach the workplace, endless department meetings, colloquia or ongoing discussions on one side, and on the contrary, the research evidence ( Goodman, Joshi, Nasim, & Tyler, 2015 ) demonstrated that parents with a low socio-economic background faced difficulties in providing nutritional meals to their children due to school closures, and also the affordability of extra-school activities compared to more advantaged backgrounds.

Nevertheless, to minimize the challenges experienced due to home confinement and school closures, distance learning should be encouraged. Need for updating with modern technology should be introduced with high-speed internet, continuous power supply, cyber security, as well as proper training to educators and students so as to have skills and competencies to operate electronic devices, along with the necessary knowledge and understanding about the method in which the information is imparted.

Clearly, due to our recent experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, many conventional academic life principles have to be reshaped. However, a common goal is being shared by all the education systems, which is to overcome the learning crisis faced and deal effectively with the COVID-19 pandemic.

While talking about the family environment, it has been observed that many faculties are reporting about online teaching difficulties. Especially in children’s cases, it is reported that the families are not cooperating to maintain the class’s decorum. The family members keep disturbing the child for one or the other reason, which promotes the child to continue with disturbing and inattentive behavior. The cognitive skills of the parents also have a significant role in understanding and growth of the child. If the academic and the other assignments are better understood by the parents, the children will have a constant source of support whenever needed without any delay or waiting time for the next interaction with the teacher. In this aspect, India is facing much difficulty because a large population is illiterate or less educated to compliment the contemporary educational demands of their children. Hence, the family has a central role in the learning of the child ( Moon, Kim, & Moon, 2016 ).

12.2.2. A multidimensional impact of uncertainty

The diagonals of impact or the crater that is created due to the situation is a matter of major concern today. If we see the situation and scenario, we will find that this pandemic problem is not just medical or psychological. However, it encompasses a three-dimensional area, that is the bio-psycho-social domain of health psychology, which explains an interconnection between biology, psychology, and socio-environmental factors. This model plays an important role in defining interaction between humans and the environment and puts light on humans’ interaction with their social environment in which we operate within certain domains and norms. When these domains are affected by environmental factors, a lethal combination takes birth. The world is facing the same evidence in the form of various psychological and socio-environmental outcomes, such as financial, mental health, environmental, etc. None of the areas are untouched by the pandemic influences. In the current chapter, the impacts of COVID-19 on education are explained in detail.

Suppose we see the present scenario when uncertainty is prevailing in every sector of society. In that case, it will not be superlative to say that the students of today, despite having their completed degrees, will have a certain and stable career. Such situations are making the students prone to rumination , which means that they are most likely to think about their uncertain future. In the present context, it is in terms of examination outcome and job security. This thought process is likely to affect their overall psyche and, in turn, will lead to a greater rise in major psychological problems.

12.3. Sustaining the education industry during COVID-19

This pandemic situation generates many education losses like postponing the board exams, competitive exams, government exams, schools and colleges closed, etc. To overcome or minimize these losses, the Human Resource Development (HRD) minister released the guideline to all educational institutes to utilize the online platforms for teaching purposes ( Di Pietro, Biagi, Costa, Karpiński, & Mazza, 2020 ). Here, the most popular open-source of online teaching platforms are MS Team, Moodle, Zoom App, Chamilo, Webex, Canvas, Forms, Google Hangouts, and Google Meet. These platforms have helped teachers in online lecture delivery, sharing of notes, assessment, quiz conduction, etc. Several e-learning platforms are also available for students, which offer free certification or audit of the courses. These sources are Coursera, NPTEL, Swayam, edX, WHO, Harvard University, Stanford University, MITs, IITs, NITs, and many more. Therefore, in this situation, students learn at their own pace using digital platforms, while protecting themselves from the corona virus. Hence, the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector is compensated by online teaching platforms ( UNESCO, 2020 ). This online platform also provides teachers and students with various opportunities to interact with experts as per their area of interest without any expenses. Such teaching facilitates students’ effective utilization of time and more online learning activities based on their preferences.

The entire chapter can be summarized in the table mentioned below:

12.4. Conclusion

The pandemic situation has adversely affected several sectors, but the education sector has had both advantages and disadvantages. The virus outbreak has negatively influenced other areas; the education sector has been able to sustain and has shown its advantages. Especially when we talk about digital education, it has proved to be a savior of the entire education system. However, it cannot be avoided that this digitalization has come up with its limitations. It has its pros and cons, such as home confinement, blocked socialization etc. Hence, in this epidemic situation, the fulfilment of course requirements is majorly satisfied. However, the quality of learning and outcome is adversely affected in some teaching areas, which further opens the door to more advanced education reformed by policymakers and government. Therefore, a futuristic approach to implementing such an education system needs much planning to provide a better learning platform. However, to get better results, online teaching techniques and traditional pedagogy may produce highly productive results. Therefore it can be concluded that despite having limitations, this COVID-19 pandemic has got a boost through various online platforms.

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Covid-19 impact on education - southasiadisasters.net issue no. 199, april 2022, attachments.

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Southasiadisasters.net Issue No. 199, April 2022

This issue of Southasiadisasters.net is titled, ‘COVID-19 Impact on Education’ and highlights the adverse impacts of the pandemic on the education sector in India and beyond. It is estimated that, the Covid-19 pandemic has battered education systems around the world, affecting close to 90 per cent of the world's student population. Similarly, over 1.5 million schools closed down due to the pandemic in India, affecting 286 million children from pre-primary to secondary levels. This adds to the 6 million girls and boys who were already out of school prior to Covid-19. This disruption in education has severe economic implications too. A World Bank report, 'Beaten or Broken: Informality and Covid-19 in South Asia', has quantified the impact of school closures in monetary terms-India is estimated to lose $440 billion (Rs. 32.3 lakh crore) in possible future earnings.

This issue of Southasiadisasters.net highlights implications of the disruption caused by the school closures along with several opportunities offered by this situation.

This issue's contents include: (1) Remote Learning: An Area of Inquiry; (2) Higher Education and COVID-19: Impact and Opportunities; (3) APRU and Pandemic: Agenda for Education as COVID-19 Unfolds; (4) Jammu and Kashmir School Safety Programme 2020; (5) Impact of COVID-19 on Education of Marginalized Children in India: Key Loss and Damages; (6) Impact of the Pandemic on L.N. Mithila University: A View; (7) Impact of the Pandemic on Students; (8) Role of INVERTIS University in the Pandemic: A Case Study; (9) Role of Social Work Students and Faculty in Managing the Pandemic in Kerala; (10) Impact of COVID-19 on Child’s Education in India; (11) Impact of Pandemic on School Education and Children; (12) IIT Roorkee Committed to Augmenting Global Efforts to Tackle COVID-19; and (13) COVID-19 Impact on Education is Hardest?

Some of the best thinkers, researchers, experts, and activists, including Mihir R. Bhatt with AIDMI Team; Dr.Indrajit Pal, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand; Christopher Temewan, APRU International Secretariat, Hong Kong; Seema Rajput, CARE India; Dr. Manu Raj Sharma, Lalit Narayan Mithila University (L.N.M.U), Bihar, India; Bhagat Singh Negi, G.B.Pant Inter College Bhowali, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India; Awdhesh Kumar, INVERTIS University, Uttar Pradesh, India; Dr. Jilly John, Central University of Kerala, Kerala, India; Aekta Chanda, ChildFund India; Dr. Saswati Paik, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, Karnataka; and Professor Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India.