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