INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 SCHOOLS LOCKDOWN ON TEACHING AND LEARNING OF AGRICULTURE

1.1 Introduction

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infection which is as a result of a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection. For example, the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) was known in 2002 and 2012 in that order were as a result of viruses analogous to SARS-CoV-2. Nevertheless, SARS-CoV-2 has a higher range more the earlier information related to viruses and as a result the obscurity in the cure and management of COVID-19 (Zhong, B.L, Li,H.M, Zhang et al., 2020).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

The COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak in 2019 in China has affected the world economy (Ogunode, N.J, Ndubisi, A.G, and Terfa, A.C, 2021). According to the World Health Organization (WHO 2020), corona viruses are a family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). These viruses were originally transmitted from animals to people. SARS, for instance, was transmitted from civet cats to humans while MERS moved to humans from a type of camel. Several known corona viruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. The name corona virus comes from the Latin word corona, meaning crown or halo. Under an electron microscope, the looks like it is surrounded by a solar corona. The novel corona virus, identified by Chinese authorities on January 7 and since named SARS-CoV-2, is a new strain that had not been previously identified in humans (Wikipedia, 2020). The recent outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic increased the gaps in the education sector globally (Onyema, E.M, Eucheria, N.C., Obafemi, F.A,et al, 2020). The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that swept across the globe about a year now, has not only had a significant impact on public health, society, and the economy as a whole, it has also wreaked havoc on the academic calendar (OgunodeN.J, Ndubisi, A.G, and Terfa, A.C, 2021). The coronavirus pandemic has no boundaries, and the effect is large and fast. Just within few months of the outbreak of the disease, it has drastically changed the lifestyles of the entire world with billions of people being forced to ‘stay at home’, ‘observe self-isolations’, and work and learn from home (Onyema E.M, Eucheria, N.C., Obafemi, F.Aet al, 2020). It has limited the freedom of students to move, practicalize and learn physically.

Going to school is the best public policy tool available to develop skills and potentials, school time can be fun, and from an economic point of view the primary point of being in school is that it increases a child’s ability to become a useful and acceptable member of the society. Even a relatively short time in school has a longer impact in the life of a child; a short period of missed school may have consequences for skill growth in future. This is why we cannot estimate how much the COVID-19 interruption will affect learning; it is only the visible effect we can see, the gradual decay of inbuilt abilities may not be easily noticed very precisely (Samuel, A.I. 2020). We are now in a new world far different from the things we use to know. The school time tables and schedules have changes, and in fact at the resumption of the school after the lockdown, so many grounds need to be covered in order for the educational system of Nigeria to be able to compete with the world’s educational system. Facilities in schools are been underutilized during lockdown, some might have been damaged as a result of not been used for a long period of time.

The Minister of Education and Culture issued a policy in the form of Minister of Education and Culture Circular Letter Number 3 of 2020 concerning Prevention of COVID-19 in the Education Unit, and Number 36962/MPK.A/HK/2020, this policy stipulates that the learning process that is usually carried out in schools is turned into online learning to avoid an increase in the number of patients caused by Covid 19 including infrastructure that supports online learning such as facilities and stable networks/signals. The output of learning in the form of products produced by students is assessed qualitatively by assessing various aspects without being required to give a quantitative score (Kemdikbud, 2020).

Therefore, in Kwara State Tertiary Institution where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Influence of Covid-19 Schools Lockdown on Teaching and Learning of Agriculture.

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1.3 Statement of Problem

The closures of schools and universities is said to have impacted over 70% of the world's inhabitants (Aborodeet al, 2020). The school-closure measure means learners previously in school are no longer going to school and this did not exclude Kwara State Tertiary Institution.

The major tasks of higher institutions include teaching, research, and community services that have been disrupted by the COVID-19. The pandemic also disrupted the academic programmes, examinations, admissions, conferences, workshops and training, graduation programmes of higher institutions.

The drastic escalation of coronavirus did not only affect learning, it compounded the pre-existing education inequalities institutions, with vulnerable and disadvantaged students at the receiving end. To curb the widening of the existing education inequalities, there is a responsibility on the institution management to put in place measures to ensure continuity, inclusion and equity for all learners during this pandemic. Observation shows that higher institutions either postponed or cancelled all campus events such as graduation ceremonies, workshops, conferences, sports (both intra and inter universities), and other activities. The COVID-19 Pandemic also led to the suspension of the academic calendar of higher institutions

There is no doubt that students were held on a spot for a period of time. This affected the smooth running of educational sector in the institutions. This study aims to show the impact the Online teaching/learning had on the educational life of students.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Influence of Covid-19 Schools Lockdown on Teaching and Learning of Agriculture in Kwara State Tertiary Institution. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were set out as follows:

1. To determine how impactful online teaching/learning was on the education of Kwara State Tertiary Institution.
2. To assess how the online learning affected the academic performance of the students.
3. To identify the challenges students faced during the online learning.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Does COVID 19 negatively affect students health and learning of Agriculture in Kwara State Tertiary Institution?
• Does COVID-19 schools lockdown enhances students home learning of Agriculture in Kwara State Tertiary Institution?
• How did students comprehend the online learning organized by Kwara State Tertiary Institution?
• How did the online learning affect the academic performance of the students?
• What challenges did students face during the online learning?
• What are the health safety approach adhered to during COVID 19 Era?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

H0: Covid-19 Schools Lockdown does not affect students Learning of Agriculture in Kwara State Tertiary Institution

H1: Covid-19 Schools Lockdown affects students Learning of Agriculture in Kwara State Tertiary Institution

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1.7 Significance of Study

Online education is the alternative measures for conventional teaching and learning process in case of future occurrences of any pandemic. Online learning is defined as the experience of transferring knowledge through various media such as images, videos, online communication and other media that support online learning and also the knowledge of using video, audio, images, text communication and software supported by internet networks.

Previously, students were at home and numerous tertiary institutions have organized a variety of eLearning stages to assist and make sure the academic schedule runs to closing stages. The virulent disease has revealed that we cannot persist to do things the same way as we used to and things have to adjust in the short, medium to long period. This describes for synchronized effort for all stakeholders surrounded by the educational segment to investigate alternatives for the solution (Jacob, 2020).

This study needs to be carried out in Kwara State Tertiary Institution as they are part of the higher institutions that were deeply affected. This study would be beneficial to both university as they would know what impact the online teaching/learning had on their students and also their academic performance. It would be beneficial as they would know what areas to channel the effort to improve the online teaching/learning to help students and the challenges most of them face during the online/ learning.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Influence of Covid-19 Schools Lockdown on Teaching and Learning of Agriculture in Kwara State Tertiary Institution.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infection which is as a result of a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.

EDUCATION: It is the process of giving systematic instruction especially at a school or university.

IMPACT: A marked effect or influence.

E-LEARNING/ONLINE LEARNING: Online learning is defined as the experience of transferring knowledge through various media such as images, videos, online communication and other media that support online learning and also the knowledge of using video, audio, images, text communication and software supported by internet networks.