scholarly journals The shortcomings of emergency remote teaching in rural settings of Zimbabwe during COVID-19 school closures: Lessons from China’s experience

Author(s):  
Raphael Nhongo ◽  
Baba P. Tshotsho

Background: In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, schools were forced to close indefinitely with no clue as to when they would reopen. Upon school closures, remote teaching was adopted, with online teaching becoming the most preferred mode of instruction, yet the Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure was not adequate enough across the country.Aim: This article scrutinises the remote teaching approaches that were put in place in Zimbabwe in response to the closure of schools during the COVID-19 lockdown. The article investigates how the adopted approaches were suitable for conditions in rural settings.Setting: The study looks at the challenges faced in the implementation of remote teaching during COVID-19 school closures in rural areas of Matabeleland provinces in Zimbabwe.Methods: The study adopted a qualitative phenomenological approach to analyse the teaching approaches that were put in place by the government and other stakeholders. Twenty teachers from 20 rural schools drawn equitably from two provinces, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North, were interviewed on the shortcomings of these remote teaching approaches.Results: The results revealed that the remote teaching approaches that were put in place excluded learners in rural settings. This is because of the challenges in infrastructure, economic condition and restrictions on remote teaching approaches imposed by the government.Conclusion: As Zimbabwe is facing economic hardships and infrastructure development challenges, it was supposed to adopt emergency remote teaching instead of long-term approaches. A variety of approaches that suit specific physical environments should have been adopted instead of sticking to only one throughout the country.

JURNAL IQRA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Sarjdana Orba Manullang ◽  
Erwinsyah Satria

This article was to determine the voice of the international community in responding to the challenges of school closure policies during the 2019 Covid-19 pandemic. Effort to break the chain transmission of Covid-19 was believed to be closely related to the closure of all business activities including schools around the world. In order to understand the impacts and challenges of school closure, a series of critical searches were undertaken on various online sources, for instance news updates publications, practitioners, and school reactions to unplanned global policies to obligate students learning from home. The collecting data was analyzed using a qualitative phenomenological approach and in-depth interpretation to at the collective voice fulfills the reliability and validity of the research problem. The findings indicated that 16 international voices from different perspectives show relatively deep concern about school closures. Voices from these discussions were matched with existing questions and knowledge about difficulties resulting from school closures. The findings of this study can be categorized into three votes; First are voices in support of the national school closure policy. Second, questioning national policies without prior data. Third, there is concern that families face serious challenges in supporting children learning from home with low facilities and the ability to handle student needs. Therefore, these voices would provide essential insights for further decision-making regarding community school participation in supporting of government in fighting the coronavirus epidemic. Hence, a similar study was needed as additional research evidence that helps the government anticipate the spread of this deadly virus, especially in countries and regions experiencing different impacts. Keywords: School Closure Policy in Covid-19, Learning from Home Policy, Covid-19


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Dave Mendoza Pregoner ◽  
Stephen Aseo ◽  
Angel Dominguiano

An access to primary care offered by the government has been the major concern of this study, which are deprived with complicated perceptions specifically in rural areas. The study engaged a phenomenological approach that characterized human experiences, and mainly to observe the behavioral response of people involved in this research. Also, it uses a purposive sampling technique that involves handpicking participants based on pre-selected criteria. The results gained specified themes through the use of thematic analysis. Based on the identified results, there were four themes introduced in the study that encompasses the problem; and the four themes that were mentioned were Financial Barriers, Structural Barriers, Cognitive Barriers, and Psychological Barriers. Each theme has sub-themes that mimic the problem of the community to the medical society within its access to health services. With regards to this result, the researchers came up with certifying alternatives that would develop the governments’ capabilities in giving quality to health services. It was determined that people should be able to comprehend the barriers hindering them to access the health services. Thus, they should commit themselves on appealing an effective communication to the government. The lingering biases and prejudices of medical experts to the remote communities should be dissipated instantly to avoid future complications. In this similar way, the two should submit to an organized and to an effective stabilized relationship for a better response.


“Be the change you want to see in the world.” The petrifying and severe impact of COVID-19 has shaken the world to its core. Later, most of the Governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In India, 320 million students have been affected by COVID-19 school closures, and though the government quickly recommended shifting to “online teaching.” Many of the government institutions are lacking of facilities to conduct online classes. Many teachers are to be updating them to challenge this situation otherwise leads to job threat. This paper with an objective to study out whether the faculties are ready to face challenges due to online teaching and to identify who among male and female are feeling more threat for their jobs due to online teaching.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-31
Author(s):  
Ardian Prabowo ◽  
Mujibur Rahman Khairul Muluk ◽  
Ainul Hayat

At present, the Covid-19 contagious disease outbreak can spread rapidly throughout the world, including Indonesia. Apart from having a negative impact on the health sector, it also impacts the economic, social, cultural, resilience, tourism and other sectors. This can threaten people in rural areas who have gaps in health accessibility and high levels of poverty compared to urban areas. So it is necessary to carry out village economic development, but still protect the health of rural communities from the Covid-19 disaster. This cannot be done by the government alone. Interdisciplinary and field cooperation is required by referring to the principles of collaborative governance. The research objective was to determine the ideal collaborative governance model in village development during the Covid-19 pandemic. This research uses qualitative methods with a descriptive approach. This method can be studied comprehensively and deeply. The results of this study indicate that in South Lampung Regency there are already several priority activities in the economic and health sectors, some of these priority activities such as Covid-19 Response Village, Village Cash Intensive Work, Village Fund Direct Cash Assistance (BLT), and other Infrastructure Development. These priority activities are collaborations carried out by the government, society and business


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Henschel

The need to enhance electricity access in rural areas of developing countries is universally recognized. However, tremendous challenges remain to finance electrification initiatives, to ensure the long term sustainability of rural electricity systems. In Lao PDR, one of the targets the government sets to achieve is the provision of electricity to 90% of the households by 2020. Considering the topography of the country and the low density of population, this ambitious objective can be reached only if innovative financing and operating mechanisms are developed and if private and public investors work closely together. A strategy based purely on government funded grid extension will not lead to the achievement of the objective. Exploring small hydro-power generation and the operation of village grids, energy provider Sunlabob has developed an innovative private-public partnership aimed at producing clean, reliable and affordable electricity in remote areas, empowering local communities, and promoting the use of electricity for productive and social purposes. The innovative features of this partnership include, mutual leverage of public and private funds for infrastructure development, community ownership and management of the fixed structures of the mini-grid (small dam, power house, transmission poles and lines), a combination of different efficient and reliable modern renewable energy technologies privately installed and owned which provide electricity 24/7 at low cost, training of local technicians who become energy entrepreneurs, empowerment of local communities for management and decision making as well as participatory work with local communities to identify productive and social uses of electricity. Both private and public partners have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Linking affordable electricity generation on the one hand and development of productive and social activities on the other hand is a new approach which is needed to ensure the viability of the mini-grid and to maximize the positive impact on the socio-economic development of target villages.


Author(s):  
Meeta Mathur ◽  
Sangeeta Sharma

As Indian economy gets integrated to the global economy and strives to improve in terms of human development indicators, a special role exists for information and communication technologies (ICT) in this process. The strategic metamorphoses and the resultant expansion of ICT linked telecommunication services in India have favorably influenced the effort to accelerate the pace of human development by enabling equality in access to information, creation of employment, improving the quality of life, better livelihood opportunities in rural areas, growth of agriculture, impetus to business development, environmental management and many more. After the initiation of economic planning in India, telecom services were assumed to be natural monopoly and were provided by one entity without competition. The government launched ambitious ICT infrastructure initiatives, radically changing its communication policy framework. The resultant growth of ICT services in India has led to significant improvement in human development levels. It has led to a reduction in information asymmetry between the rich and the poor, improvement in telecom density and ICT accessibility in rural areas, fostering inclusive growth, providing better access to market information to people in remote and rural areas, facilitating technological leapfrogging, enhancing business networking and offering new opportunities from the perspective of human development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Sintayoh Fissha ◽  
Meheret Brehanu

The main objective of this study is to examine the implication of decentralization in rural areas of Ethiopia: Case of Tigray. The study aims to discuss effect of decentralization on service delivery and improving quality of life of some Weredas of rural Tigray focusing on education, health, and water point.To conduct this studies both; qualitative (phenomenological approach), and quantitative (household survey, and wereda level local government expenditure) data were used. Results indicate the positive effect of fiscal decentralization on service delivery. Likewise decentralization effect on improving quality of life is progressing but it is still minimal. Comparing with pre decentralization there are positive changes but there is a considerable differences on its corollary. The possible reason for differences to occur could be variations in agro-ecological condition, location or space, and capability of the decision makers.


2020 ◽  
pp. 98-104
Author(s):  
Mikhailovna Yarkova

The social infrastructure of rural areas is of particular importance when considering issues of both an economic and social nature. Both production and non-production rural areas necessitate the availability of social facilities. The main purpose of social infrastructure facilities nowadays and in the past of rural and urban areas development is to meet the needs of the population. At the same time, social infrastructure defines the basis for the level and quality of life of civil society. Its condition is an indicator of the territorial development and provides opportunities for innovative development and investment attraction. For many years now, the rural social infrastructure has been in poor condition in Russia. Problems are observed in the living conditions of citizens, in elements of residential properties improvement, undeveloped system of medical and educational services, unavailability of cultural and leisure facilities, and so on. Due to such a negative state of the rural social sphere, problems arise with the demographic situation and the production sphere in terms of the inability to attract highly qualified personnel. The Program for the Sustainable Development of Rural Territories developed by the Government of Russia holds back the general, intensively negative situation, and is fundamentally changing it in some regions of the country. The paper presents the results of the implementation of the main Program directions and gives some recommendations on its further implementation and development of the rural social infrastructure.


Significance While access to schools has expanded in low- and middle-income countries in recent decades, learning outcomes have not seen a corresponding improvement. The onset of school closures during the pandemic created an unprecedented opportunity to deploy edtech solutions for distance learning. Impacts Infrastructure limitations are matched by lack of familiarity of both learners and teachers on how to make the best use of edtech content. A major push for online teaching amid the pandemic risks widening educational gaps between those with and without access. Further investment in expanding digital access is critical for taking edtech tools to remote and rural areas in developing countries.


Jurnal NERS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
R Endro Sulistyono ◽  
Tantut Susanto ◽  
Rr Dian Tristiana

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the main health problems in Indonesia. Various efforts have been made by the government to handle the TB problem in Indonesia, one of which is implementing a direct observed therapy short course (DOTS) program. However, the handling of TB disease in Indonesia, especially in rural areas is still not optimal. This study aims to explore barriers to the handling of TB in rural areas from the perspective of public health center professionals.Methods: This study is a qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. Sampling was done by purposive sampling with a sample of 8 participants. Data is collected through focus group discussions. Thematic analysis is carried out using colaizi step.Results: This study obtained two themes. Theme 1 is the barriers in the aspect of TB patients and Theme 2, which is barriers from the aspect of health care facilities.Conclusion: This study obtained two themes. Theme 1 is the barriers in the aspect of TB patients and Theme 2, which is barriers from the aspect of health care facilities.


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