Abstract
With all learning institutions pre-maturely closed on 20 March 2020 and all citizens advised to self-isolate in a bid to control the spread of COVID-19, it was hypothesized that COVID-19 would negatively impact on the performance of students in the 2020 Grade 12 national examinations vis-à-vis mathematics, science and design and technology subjects. An observed steady increase in the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and the low levels of technology use in secondary schools in Zambia due to limited technology resources signifies a very difficult period in a young country which has just rolled out a nation-wide implementation of STEM education, This study collected data from three teachers at a public secondary school in Chipata District of Eastern Province in the Republic of Zambia. The Head of Department for Mathematics, the Head of Natural Sciences Department and one science teacher were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews via mobile phone were used to collect views of what these specialists thought would be the COVID-19 effects on the general performance of students in their subject areas. Results of this study revealed that there is likely to be a drop in the pass percentage of secondary school students in this year’s national examinations if the COVID-19 epidemic is not contained in the shortest possible time considering that the school academic calendar was abruptly disturbed by the early untimely closure of all schools in the country.
Highlights
Around mid-March 2020, the Zambian government through the Minister of Health announced at a press briefing that all schools, colleges and universities would close indefinitely on Friday, 20 March 2020 amid fears of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that had reportedly ravaged most parts of China, United States of America, Italy, Spain and other parts of Europe and Africa
With all learning institutions pre-maturely closed on 20 March 2020 and all citizens advised to self-isolate in a bid to control the spread of COVID-19, it was hypothesized that COVID-19 would negatively impact on the performance of students in the 2020 Grade 12 national examinations vis-à-vis mathematics, science and design and technology subjects
Results of this study revealed that there is likely to be a drop in the pass percentage of secondary school students in this year’s national examinations if the COVID-19 epidemic is not contained in the shortest possible time considering that the school academic calendar was abruptly disturbed by the early untimely closure of all schools in the country
Summary
Around mid-March 2020, the Zambian government through the Minister of Health announced at a press briefing that all schools, colleges and universities would close indefinitely on Friday, 20 March 2020 amid fears of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that had reportedly ravaged most parts of China, United States of America, Italy, Spain and other parts of Europe and Africa. This meant that secondary school students in most public and private schools ended Term 1 of the academic year 2020 without sitting for their end-of-term tests as many public and private schools administer assessment tests at the end of each of the three terms of the academic year. The rate at which COVID-19 has rapidly been spreading has made every sector of human life to immediately feel its impact
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