Publication

Abstract : The recent outbreak of the contagious Coronavirus infection that is considered to be the greatest health threat after the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 impacted the lives of people belonging to all sectors of society. Besides affecting the economy of all the countries it created a major disruption to the mental health of the general public irrespective of the part of the earth they belong to. The rate of spread of the infection was high and in many scenarios remained asymptomatic. This peculiar nature of this disease mandated the governments across the globe to ban the free functioning of public places. Schools, Colleges, Universities, Restaurants, etc. were ordered to remain closed. This was adopted by the governments as a measure to control the spread of the disease. The education sector also underwent a massive hit as a result of this pandemic. The world economic forum reported that more than 1.2 billion children belonging to 186 countries around the globe are not attending regular schools as the schools remain closed to control the spread rate of the disease. As per the statement of the World Health Organization (WHO), it is believed that this pandemic caused devastation to the lives of nearly 28,584,158 people across the world. The students, teachers, and parents suffered psychologically as they have not experienced a situation of this sort earlier. The decline in job opportunities as a consequence of the economic slowdown created panic in the minds of young graduates. The drastic shift from teaching in-person to leveraging the technological advancements to conduct classes contributed in many ways to affect the mental health of students, parents, and teachers. This was a challenge for the policymakers as well. This article is devoted to exploring the different psychological disturbances experienced by students, teachers, parents, and others as a consequence of this COVID-19 pandemic on the education system. A discussion of a few of the literature already in existence in this context is carried out and suggestions to tackle this novel crisis are present. Keeping ourselves mentally strong and calm is needed to increase our productivity. This article stresses the importance of that too. Also, case studies of the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the educational ecosystem of India and Ethiopia are presented.