Abstract:

The devastating effect of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an almost total lockdown of the world-wide educational infrastructure, and the Eastern Caribbean was no exception. In fact, it was particularly acute for the primary-secondary educational system in the Eastern Caribbean. For example, in Antigua and Barbuda the pandemic-related partial and total school shutdowns lasted almost two academic years. Consequently, students’ education and mental health suffered. For lesser developed countries and regions, the transition to alternate modes of instruction including distance teaching and learning brought many challenges, especially among financially under-resourced individuals and families who lacked access to the information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. Moreover, research demonstrated that an increased number of students exhibited socioemotional, health related, and behavioral difficulties because of the pandemic. Therefore, it is unsurprising that a significant number of primary and secondary school students, especially those in under developed and developing communities and nations, would suffer learning decline regardless of their pre-pandemic level of learning and learning trends.

This paper is generally a quantitative analysis based on survey items completed by parents and teachers to solicit their observations of their respective primary and secondary school children and students’ education and mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey had 22 items and was conducted in the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Six of the 22 items relate to the demographics of the respondents including residence status, gender, marital status, parent/teacher specification, parent’s child(ren) and teacher’s primary/secondary school level. The remaining 16 survey items were both closed-ended and open-ended. The closed-ended items include the following: three relate to health with one relating to whether parent/teacher contracted the coronavirus, one relates to teachers’ perception of technology usefulness, another relates to students and teachers’ perception of the usefulness of ICT integration in the teaching and learning process, and one relates to students and teachers perception of the ease of use and helpfulness of open education resources. There were 67 survey respondents. Most of them were single, female, and parents: 58%, 54%, and 63% respectively. Of the 64 respondents to the survey item concerning contracting Covid-19, 47% reported it was contracted. Moreover, most of the parents had children in secondary school and most of the teachers taught in secondary schools. Furthermore, regarding health and well-being, over 50% of students showed signs of reduced motivation or procrastination (70%), concerns about academic progress/career goals (70%), reduced personal interactions (63%), lack of motivation (76%), difficulty with concentration (70%), and difficulty completing the same amount of course work as in the pre-pandemic school years (63%). A conclusion of this study is that Antigua and Barbuda primary and secondary school students experienced some of the same Covid-19 related maladies as similar students in other parts of the world.

Keywords:

Covid-19 pandemic, primary and secondary school students, health and well-being, parents and teachers.