COVID-19 response and social work education in Nigeria: matters arising

Abstract

ABSTRACT The novel COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by surprise and given the scale at which it is impacting individuals, families, communities, and countries globally, the recognition of social workers as frontline actors in response to this pandemic cannot be over-emphasized. However, social workers in Nigeria, appear not to be aware of the roles they can play. The question then arises as to the adequacy of their training curriculum that probably made them not be aware of their roles. Eight social workers who work in health and welfare agencies were purposively selected and interviewed by telephone. Findings show that they were not aware of the role expected of them during the pandemic. Some noted that their training was somewhat deficient hence the need to introduce some courses and also enhance field practicum in future training of social workers. The study recommends the need for social work educators to be more proactive in their interpretation of courses, the need to revise the current curriculum for training social workers in Nigeria to make it more action-oriented as well as incorporate more courses in public health and disaster management.