Non-Pharmaceutical Management of Covid-19 Pandemic: The Effect on Access to University Education In Nigeria

Abstract

When Science was yet to find a cure for the COVID - 19 pandemic, one of the non-pharmaceutical measures adopted was avoidance of mass gathering and where desirable social and physical distancing. The UNESCO directed that schools should be closed and as such recommended the deployment of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) and the internet to run e-learning education. COVID - 19 pandemic and the e-learning expose the inadequate infrastructure in Africa, in terms of electricity and the internet, which existed pre-COVID-19 and which development does not adequately support e-learning. The wide disparity in socio-economic positions in countries of Africa, in part explains the un-equal access of individuals to the ICT and to the internet which affect the success of e-learning. The paper as such recommends that states should take measures to eliminate discrimination, exclusion and general in-equality in access to the ICT and to education generally. Key terms: COVID-19 Pandemics; Management; State of Infrastructure; Governments’ Obligation; Access to Education