Impact of Covid-19 on the Learning Skills Of the School Students

Corona viruses are group of viruses that cause minor illness to severe diseases. At the end of the year 2019,a novel corona virus was identified as the cause of a cluster of Pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province of China. It rapidly spread, resulting in an epidemic throughout China followed by an increased number of cases in other countries throughout the world. In February 2020, the World Health Organization designated it as Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The virus that causes COVID-19 is severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2(SARS-CoV-2), previously referred to as 2019-nCoV.Since the first episode of cases in Wuhan at the end of 2019, significant numbers of COVID-19 cases started to be reported in China. These include all laboratory confirmed cases as well as clinically diagnosed cases in Hubei province. At joint world health organization (WHO); China fact-finding mission estimated that the epidemic in China peaked between January and early February 2020. Increased numbers of cases have also been reported in other countries across and continents except Antarctica. These cases initially occurred mainly among travelers from China and those who have contact with travelers from China. However, ongoing local transmission driven smaller outbreaks in some locations outside of China including South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan and infections elsewhere, have identified in travelers from those countries. In United States several clusters of COVID-19 with local transmission have been identified throughout the country. The first case of COVID-19 pandemic in India was reported on 30th January 2020 in the state of Kerala and the affected had a travel history from Wuhan, China. The first death due to COVID-19 was reported in India on March12, 2020. Lockdowns were announced in Kerala on 23rd March and in the rest of the country on 25th March. By mid-May 2020, five cities accounted for around half of all reported cases in the country viz. Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmadabad, Chennai and Thane. According to the report, enrollment in school education from elementary to upper secondary is estimated to be

sections fell by 11.5 lakh.

The pandemic caused further shocks to the system with schools forced to shut down during the lockdown period, and the transition of students and teachers to online teaching-learning. In India, around 250 million students were affected due to school closures at the onset of lockdown induced by COVID-19.The COVID pandemic has stretched worldwide thereby compelling the individuals in the society to keep social distancing and to stay homes and also to curtail unnecessary movements. Its effect on the education sector is significant. The educational system in India is not fully developed and still mid-day meal program is followed to attract students to join schools and get education. The nationwide imposed by the Indian government on March 25th , 2020 to combat Covid-19 made severe impact on education system. India has world‘s 2ndlargest school system after China. According to UNESCO, 63 million teachers were affected in 165 countries and 1.3 billion learners around the world are affected by closure of institutions due to COVID -19. In India alone, the figure is near about 320 million. To control and prevent the spread of COVID-19, Indian govt. declared lockdown in the country and closing down of educational institutions as a rational move to implement social distancing among the students and with communities. This nationwide lockdown has had a tremendous impact on education system of the country, especially for students from rural areas. Since, the Indian education system is dominated by classroom study, the present scenario made functioning of education institutions difficult. All educational activities like examinations, school admissions, entrance tests for various universities were postponed indefinitely. But, at the same time, it opened up new gates to adopt technology in teaching and learning. Initially, the educators and students were quite confused and didn‘t understand how to cope up with situation of this sudden crises that compelled closure and educational activities. But later on, all realized that lockdown has taught so many lessons to manage with the emergence of such pandemics. Thus Covid-19 has created many challenges and opportunities for education institutions to strengthen their technological knowledge and infrastructure. This lockdown has given them a ray of hope for teachers and students to continue their educational activities through online mode using information and communication technology. The teachers assigned work to students via internet, delivered lectures through apps like Zoom, Google Meet, YouTube, Skype etc.

focused on finding out the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Jammu University students. This study enables us to understand the challenges or difficulties being faced by students and the positive impacts (if any) to get their needs fulfilled and level of satisfaction during this particular phase of Covid-19.

This study is focused on following objectives:

• To highlight of the impact of Covid-19 on Jammu University students.

• To find out the problems faced by students.

• To find out the satisfaction level among students with present online mode of teaching learning process.

• To enlist some suggestive measures for students to continue their studies during this pandemic.

1. The study was confined to students of Jammu University only. 2. The study was confined to a sample of 90 students only.

Before conducting any specific research, the investigator must be thoroughly familiar with previous theory and practice. A review of related literature is one of essential steps for the conduct of research study. It enables the researcher to work out the finer details of his / her research problem. It helps to save time and resources. It is one of the important aspects of a research project. It is very valuable task for an investigator to have a comprehensive survey of what already has been done on the problem and its related studies. Survey of related literature avoids the risk of duplication, provides details which are valuable in formulating in the problem and contributes to the general scholarship of the investigator. The review is a careful examination of a body of literature pointing towards the answer to researcher‘s question. The survey of related literature is a crucial aspect of the study and the time spent on such survey not only helps the investigator in avoiding the duplication of work but also helps researcher with regard to methods followed, devices of data collection, analysis of

1. Kumar Jena (2020) conducted a study on impact of Covid-19 on education of students in India and he found that Covid-19 hampered the educational activity classes have been suspended and exams of different levels has been postponed due to continuity in lockdown. It will be difficult for the students to continue their education after a gap in academics due to the lockdown. 2. Soland, Kuhfeld, Tarasawa, Johnson, Ruzek,and Liu (2020) conducted a study on impact of Covid-19 on students‘ achievement and what it may mean for educators and they found that many students had difficulty concentrating and often symptoms of depression. Many students may face greater food insecurity, loss of family income, loss of family members to corona virus and the fear of catching the virus themselves. 3. Bains, Sharma, Raniand Dhar (2020) conducted a study on Study patterns among Jammu University students during Covid-19 phase and found that the students of Jammu University have experienced great difficulties to get their information needs fulfilled. Majority of students weren‘t satisfied with the present way of obtaining information and encountered problems like network issues, inadequate tools and inadequate collection of materials. 4. Grubic, Badovinac and Johri (2020) conducted a research on student‘s mental health in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic and found that there is a heightened level of psychological distress, a reduced motivational towards studies and increased pressures to learn independently. 5. Rawal, M.(2021) conducted a study on impact of Covid-19 on Indian Education System and he found that Covid-19 has immensely impacted the education sector of India. India is not in a condition to extend education to every section in the country by means of digital platforms. The students who aren‘t privileged take the others will suffer due to present choice of digital platforms. He found out that there is an urgent need to take efforts on maximum utilization of online platforms. India should develop strategies to ensure that all children have sustainable access to learning during covid-19 Pandemic. 6. Chaturvedi and Singh (2021) conducted a study on Covid-19 and its impact on education, social life and mental health of students The interruptions due to COVID pose challenges and present an opportunity to evaluate alternative steps in education. The new policies and guidelines in this direction would help mitigate some of the negative effects and prepare students and education for further health crises. 7. Pokhrel and Chhetri (2021) conducted a study on impact of Covid-19 pandemic on teaching and learning (2021) across the country and their results have shown that although various studies have been carried that, the suitable pedagogy and platform for different class levels of Higher Secondary, Middle and Primary education need to be explored internet bandwidth is relatively low with lesser access points and data, packages are costly in comparison to income of the people in this country, thus making accessibility and affordability inadequate. The lesson learnt from this pandemic is that teachers and students/learners should be oriented on use of different online educational tools. They should be encouraged to use online tools to enhance teaching and learning. 8. Ravichandran, Palanichami, Kalaiselvan, Muthukumarand Mahalingam (2021) conducted a research on psychological impact of Covid-19 lockdown on college students across India-a cross sectional study. A semi structural questionnaire containing 21 items of depression anxiety and stress scale was circulated through social media. College students from different states across India participated. Results showed that 53.1%, 37.2% and 24.3% had symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress respectively with varying severities. Significant association of negative emotional states with decreased time spent with their family and friends and its effects, increased incidence of domestic violence, increase sleep duration, disturb sleep financial crises etc. were found. This led to conclusions that Covid-19 is building psychological distress among vulnerable college students as they are forced to stay home, along with worsening lifestyle changes, family educations and time spent on various activities.

By method one means a systematic approach towards a particular phenomenon. In the present study, the researcher has used the

1. Survey studies 2. Interrelationship studies 3. Developmental studies As for the present study, the investigator decided to conduct a survey study to know the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Jammu University students. Survey studies are conducted to collect detailed description of existing phenomena with the intent of employing data to justify the current conditions and practices or to make more intelligent plans for improving them.

Population is any group of individuals having one or more characteristics in common that are of interest to the researcher. The population may be all the individuals of a particular type, or a more restricted part of that group. Population mainly is of two types: finite and infinite population. A population with a finite number of individuals, members or units is called finite. And population with infinite number of individuals is known as infinite population (Koul, 1984, Best and Kahn, 2001).In the present studies, population comprise of students of Jammu University, J&K India.

The investigator can never collect data from the whole population in any investigation. The size of sample varies from study to study, method followed and nature of population. A good sample enables us to draw conclusions about the characteristics of population after studying only those subjects that are included in the sample and effective generalization can be made. It saves the investigators‘ time money and energy. For the present study, Simple Random sampling technique was employed to collect the data from a sample of 90 students of Jammu University.

1. Questionnaire provides a convenient way to gather information from the target population. 2. Questionnaire is cheap, quick and provides relatively easy access to geographically scattered respondents. 3. They are easy to plan, construct and administer. 4. They offer a quick way to get results. 5. Directions are clear and complete.

A self-made closed ended questionnaire consisting of 31 items was prepared through Google forms keeping in view the situation of COVID-19 and to eliminate physical contact. The questionnaire was distributed online to the students. All items fulfill the demand of the study. The questions were framed in such a manner which enabled us to measure the impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Jammu University students.

In this study, simple statistical technique is used for analysis of data, known as, Percentage technique. Here the responses of multiple students will be calculated by the formula given below: No. of responses collected multiplied by 100 and divided by the total number sample.

The below Table No.1(a) shows gender distribution of the respondents, where it can be found that female participation is high (77.8%) than that of males (22.2%).

Male 22.2% Female 77.8%

The below Table no. 1(b) shows age group of the respondents:

18-24 66.7% 24-30 31.1%

Above 30 2.2%

Among the respondents, 49.7% belong to UG (undergraduate) courses, 44.4% belong to PG (postgraduate) courses and 7.8% are research scholars.

UG 47.8% PG 44.4%

Research Scholar 7.8%

In response to possibility to connect to the internet, respondents have different opinions as shown in below TableNo.2:

Very Good 14.4% Good 47.8% Neutral 25.6%

In response to ability to handle digital platforms, respondents have varying levels of ability (as shown in Table No. 3). It has been found that more than half of the total respondents were good at handling digital platforms. Following is the table:

Very Good 17% Good 52.2% Neutral 20% Bad 6.2% Very Bad 5.6%

In response to efficiency of digital platforms, respondents have different opinions shown in below Table No. 4:

Very Good 13.3% Good 50% Neutral 27.8% Bad 5.3% Very Bad 3.6%

There were many difficulties encountered while using online platforms, which is evident from the following Table No. 5:

Connection issues 70% Unsuitable Learning conditions

22.2%

Power cut 16.7% Some other difficulty 24.4% Item No.6: Sources of information used during Covid-19 The students were asked about the sources of information they have used during Covid-19, and they were allowed to tick mark more than one option. Table 6 given below shows the sources of info used:

E-books 20% Online Databases 60% Journals 8.9% References 18.9% Search Engines 32.2%

There are varying degrees of extent to which respondents were able to collect desired information as given in below Table No.7:

To great extent 8.9% Medium extent 56.6% Some what 25.6% Can‘t say 10%

Item No. 8: Time donated in information gathering

1-2 hrs 30% 2-3 hrs 34.4% 4-5 hrs 16.7% More than 5 hrs 18.9%

It is evident from the Table 9 below that 58.9% respondents have joined online courses during COVID pandemic, 58.9% respondents have not joined any course while 2.2% were planning to opt for it in due course of time.

Yes 58.8% No 38.9% Planning to opt 2.2%

Knowledge application (18.9%), communication skills (11.1%), information handling (12.2%) and self-learning (57.8%) are the characteristics learnt by students while studying during pandemic as shown in below Table 10. Self learning is a major characteristic with maximum responses.

Knowledge Applications 18.9 Communication Skills 11.1 Information Handling 12.2 Self-learning 57.8 Total 100

It is evident from Table 11 below, that students have varying opinion regarding interaction and communication with teachers. Most of the students had good interaction in terms of personalized or group feedback and guidance or tutoring.

Very Good 15.6% Good 48.9% Neutral 25.6% Bad 5.2% Very Bad 4.7%

Students have different opinions as evident from table 12 below where majority of the respondents agreed as having good interaction and communication with teachers (teaching courses, seminars, laboratories, and other practical application).

Very Good 7.8% Good 48.9% Neutral 26.7% Bad 13.3% Very Bad 3.3%

Following is the level of satisfaction of students regarding quality of online learning as depicted in below Table 13:

Very Good 7.8% Good 53.3% Neutral 27.8% Bad 7.8% Very Bad 3.3%

The level of motivation to learn in the students is illustrated in table 14where it is observed that 12.2% students are very highly motivated, 43.3% are highly motivated, and 31.3% are neutral. The students with low and very low motivated are 8.9% and 4.3% respectively.

Very High 12.2% High 43.3% Neutral 31.3% Low 8.9% Very low 4.3%

It is observed from below table 15that awareness level of 64.4% students are medium/moderate, 22.2% students are highly aware and 13.3% have low awareness regarding various digital initiatives such as National Digital Library of India, Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), etc

High 22.2% Moderate 64.5% Low 13.3%

Positive 48.9% Negative 24.4% No opinion 26.7%

It is found from below table 17that 55.6 % of the students are not satisfied while 44.4% are satisfied with present way of teaching i.e. online mode of teaching rather than offline classes

Yes 44.4% No 55.6%

Lack of Communication 23.3% Inadequate study material 28.9% Network problem 52.2% Lack of Guidance 28.9% Some other reasons 17.8%

The various advantages associated with online learning as indicated by the students are given in Table No.19.

Flexibility 32.2% Innovative and Engaging 21.1% Innovative teaching Learning 26.7% Improved digital skills 58.9% Innovative ways of assessing students 12.2%

The various disadvantages of online education as perceived by the students are given in below Table 20:

Need of good internet connection and equipment 37.8% Deterioration of mental health 32.2% Inability to carry out practical application 33.3% Less face to face interaction 43.3% More distraction for students 30% Lack of motivation 36.7%

The followings main findings are drawn on the basis of study: age group of most respondents is 18-24 years (66.7%). The respondents are mostly females (77.8%). 2. Majority (47.8%) of the respondents feel that there is a good possibility to connect to the internet. 3. Majority of the respondents (52.2%) have good ability to handle digital platforms required for online classes. 4. Majority of the respondents (50%) have found the efficiency of digital platforms to be good. 5. Majority of the respondents has encountered difficulties like connection issues, unsuitable learning environment and power cut while using online learning platforms. 6. 6. Majority of the respondents mostly relied on online databases (60%), search engines (32.2%), e-books (20%) and references (18.9%) for accessing information during covid-19 pandemic. 7. Majority of the respondents (56.6%) have found the extent of getting desired information with available resources during covid-19 to be medium. 8. Majority of the respondents (64.4%) have spent an average of 1-3 hours of time in information gathering. 9. Majority of the students (58.9%) have joined online courses during covid-19 pandemic. 10. The most important characteristic learnt by students during Covid-19 pandemic is Self-learning. 11. Majority of the respondents (48.9%) have found the interaction and communication with teachers while learning during COVID-19 providing personalized/ group feedback, guidance/tutoring to be good. 12. Majority of the respondents (48.9%) have found the interaction and communication with teachers in terms of teaching courses, seminars, laboratories, and other practical application to be also good. 13. Majority of the respondents (53.3%) are of the view that quality of online learning content is good. 14. Majority of the respondents (43.3%) have found the level of motivation to learn to be high. 15. Majority of the respondents (64.4%) are moderately aware regarding digital initiatives supporting students in learning during Covid-19 pandemic 16. Majority of the respondents (48.9%) have positive opinion regarding online education considering the experience duringcovid-19 pandemic.

18. The major reasons behind dissatisfaction among the students are found to be lack of communication (23.3%), inadequate study material (28.9%), network problem (52.2%), lack of guidance (28.9%) and some other reasons (17.8%). 19. The major advantages associated with online learning as indicated by students are improved digital skills (58.9%) and greater flexibility (32.2%) 20. The major disadvantages associated with online learning as indicated by students are less face to face interaction (43.3%) and lack of good internet connection and equipment (37.8%).

1. Sudden switching for online education mode may not be able to host large scale of new users. The platform may often shutdown because of overload. Thus, gradual upload of teaching videos in online platforms can be adopted such that sessions can be viewed multiple times as and when they are accessible. 2. As students faced difficulties while using online platforms like connection issues, power cuts etc. So internet connectivity should be addressed. Government should take measures for developing infrastructural modifications like open Wi-Fi areas with high-speed internet access with at least one GB data pack per day. 3. Government must provide un-interrupted power supply to facilitate ease of online education. 4. Government should take measures to provide help to students who lack digital equipments required for learning during COVID-19 pandemic. 5. Government should develop creative strategies to ensure that all children must have sustainable access to learning during COVID-19 pandemic. 6. As it has been evident from the study that students are facing difficulty in gathering information online, so students should be given proper guidance by concerned teachers regarding the use of various databases, online repositories, digital media, e-books, digital libraries etc. 7. There is a need to invest on remote labs and virtual labs to impart training to students.8. Students should be given knowledge and should be made aware about the initiatives of government of India during COVID-19

1. The study is very useful in addressing and the educational needs of students during this COVID-19 pandemic. 2. This study helps in finding out the difficulties faced by students during this COVID-19 pandemic and provides scope for betterment in future. 3. In Today‘s world, each and every person wants a digital life. So online classes can help students to learn things visually and they can easily remember the things that they have learnt. 4. The conduct of online classes during COVID-19 pandemic also improves the technical skills of students. They can learn to handle different learning management systems and programs. 5. Online learning makes it convenient for students to learn according to their own pace and swiftness. This means students can go through a video 5-10 times if they require learning the concept 6. Online courses should be made dynamic, interesting and interactive. 7. Personal attention should be provided to students so that they can easily adapt to learning environment. Social media applications are a useful way to support student-teacher communication 8. Pandemic has also taught us that students must possess certain skills of problem solving, critical thinking and most importantly adaptability to survive the crisis.

Coronavirus affects the education system in the world. Schools, colleges, and universities are closed to control the spread of the coronavirus. School closure brings difficulties for students, teachers, and parents. So, distance learning is a solution to continue the education system. However, the lack of network infrastructures, computers, and internet access is challenging distance learning in developing countries. Hence, countries design a strategy to use educational technology, zero-fee internet educational resources, free online learning resources, and broadcasts teaching. During closures, educational institutions design curriculum, prepare teaching-learning strategies for post-coronavirus. The educational institutions design strategies to recover lost learning, and return students to school when schools reopen and other educational Institutions. Coronavirus has been impacting the face-to-face education system of developing countries. Therefore, developing countries should enhance broadcast teaching, online teaching, and virtual improvement. Every investigation is contributing for further studies. Every investigator after completing his piece of research inevitably becomes aware of areas in which further research is needed and naturally feels motivated to indicate are, which may taken up for research by other investigations. The present investigation also opens new areas which need exploration. The following suggestions are presented for further study: 1. The present study was limited to small sample size so it will be replicated with larger sample size which would be helpful in drawing more valid and reliable result. 2. The present study was confined to students of University of Jammu only. Hence some other universities can be taken for study. 3. The present study was limited to impact of COVID19 pandemic on education of students only including opportunities, barriers and outcomes. It can include others aspects like psychological, physiological, emotional aspects too.

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Research Scholar, School of Education, Sabarmati University, Ahmedabad (Gujarat)-382481