STRATEGIES FOR MITIGATING THE CHALLENGES OF COVID-19 IN THE POST COVID ERA IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN AWKA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT EDUCATION AUTHORITY

ABSTRACT This study examined the strategies for mitigating the challenges of COVID-19 in the Post COVID era in primary schools in Awka South Local Government Education Authority of Anambra State. Two research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted to carry out the research. The population of the study constituted 665 public primary school teachers in the 45 public primary schools. Simple random sampling technique was adopted to select 100 teachers from the population. The instrument for data collection was a 14-item structured questionnaire titled “Questionnaire on Strategies for Mitigating the Challenges of COVID-19 (QSMCC-19)” developed by the researcher. The instrument was validated by three experts, two from the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education and one from the Department of Educational Foundation. The reliability was established using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient. The overall reliability co-efficient of the instrument was 0.84. Mean was used for the analysis of data collected. The findings revealed that delay in completion of academic session, poor school attendance, increased drop out, loss of previous knowledge, poor learning outcome, decline in the academic performance and social skills of pupils are the challenges of COVID-19 on the education of pupils in the Post COVID era. The study also showed that identified strategies for mitigating the challenges of COVID-19 on the education of pupils in the Post COVID era in Awka South Local Government Area include; adopting the COVID-19 safety rules, splitting school hours in sections, modification of the curriculum to fit pupils’ need, organizing remedial/extra-time classes, use of face and online education and the provision of financial aids by the state government to parents/guardian to improve school attendance. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that the state government and education authorities should work towards the utilization of e-learning/online education to ensure continuous education in case of any lockdown among others.