A Catastrophic Pandemic has Ruined Upcoming Educational Aspirations

One of the many Covid signs that are shown in numerous areas.

Student’s voices are silenced as they share their concerns about how Covid has affected their studies and future career plans.

From March 2020 the Covid pandemic has affected students all over the world. One of the major occurrences that came from this was the drastic change in the education system.

Students were told that classes would be held online and from there a lot of problems arose; some families who had limited technological devices struggled to keep all their children engaged in classes and a few students found a strain from the excessive amount of workload given to them.

Technology had become a such a major factor towards online lessons that schools became limited to providing laptops to every individual who required one.

“It started getting more stressful when teachers asked us to print test papers because paper and ink cost a lot, some of my friends didn’t even own a printer.”

Katie; a year 12 student.

Students found it extremely hard to receive extra support from teachers and as they neared exam season with no certain decision if they were even going to be held, students felt arduous having to put in more work than usual with unsettled verdicts as to whether exams would even be held.

With less aid, students found it difficult to gain the support they needed towards making important future decisions such as university choices and a-level subjects.

Distraction cost a lot of students the grades they deserved, students found it incredibly easier to concentrate in schools and other educational places than at home.

“Online learning worsened my experience, my first year of university was online and it became difficult to make friends with people from the other side of a screen when we only saw each other during lessons.”

Shammaz; a second-year at university.

With extra curriculum activities on hold, a few students found their mental health deteriorating. They found it a struggle to balance their workload equally as out of education activity was no longer an option, this made some students feel ‘drained’.

Moreover, students said that they ‘felt more alone when everything was online’ and were not able to hang out with their friends.

Fortunately with things starting to get back to normal, virtual lessons have decreased and students are getting back on track by getting the support they need.

Educational industries have reopened their doors after nearly a year of virtual teaching; welcoming students back with open arms and smiles.