ABSTRACT
COVID-19 lockdown has caused disruption to education of all levels with far-reaching implications and unveiled the shortfalls of the current education model. Cycles of tightening and relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown confer uncertainty to the continuity of education. This article aims to comprehensively present the impacts of COVID-19 on primary, secondary and tertiary education and propose sound educational practices in the COVID-19 era. Papers related to educational impacts and implications of COVID-19 were selected for this review through a PRISMA model. The review shows that a shift of learning remotely or online has affected educators and learners, especially in relation to learning loss among learners, limitations in instructions, assessment and experiential learning in virtual environment, technology-related constraints, connectivity, learning resources and materials, besides psychosocial well-being. These impacts are exacerbated by inequalities in the distribution of resources as well as inequities attributed to socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, learning ability and physical conditions. The recommendations for future educational practices comprise adaptability of curricula to embed independent and online learning options, concurrence of diverse learning modalities for seamless learning transitions and flexibility, flexible staffing and learning model, enhanced support, technological and curricular innovation with simplification and standardization, as well as interactive, responsive and authentic virtual environment. This review contributes significantly to enhance preparedness of education to crisis while ensuring continuity and quality of education in the era of COVID-19 uncertainty. © 2022, This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US;foreign copyright protection may apply.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The transmission of COVID-19 has sent Malaysia into cycles of tightening and relaxation of movement control, which are still continuing currently in line with local fluctuations of new COVID-19 cases. During movement control, measures comprising physical distancing, hand cleaning or sanitizing, and sanitization of premises are consistently implemented while self-isolation and travel restrictions are adaptively enforced. This study aims to examine if the control of COVID-19 transmission has an effect on the national influenza occurrences as some measures for COVID-19 control are similar to those for influenza. STUDY DESIGN: For this study, data of weekly new cases of influenza and COVID-19 were obtained from official platforms for non-parametric statistical analysis. METHODS: This study compared the influenza occurrences before and after the onset of COVID-19 using the Mann-Whitney U-test and explored Spearman's correlations between COVID-19 and influenza incidences after the onset of COVID-19. RESULTS: It shows that influenza incidences before and after the onset of COVID-19 were significantly different and that influenza cases have significantly reduced after the onset of COVID-19. The weekly cases of influenza and COVID-19 were significantly and negatively correlated. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the co-benefits of COVID-19 control measures and alleviates the concern for the risk of COVID-19 and influenza co-infection.