The effect of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on access to education for the marginalised groups

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought about panic and disruptions in the functioning of different sectors worldwide. COVID-19 was established to spread from person to person in close proximity. Consequently, most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the pandemic. These nationwide closures are expected to affect the world's student population. School closure has potentially, more devastating effect in many African countries since it can derange the achievements obtained in expanded access to education and can jeopardies the future learning opportunity of the students. In Namibia the closure of schools, colleges and universities did not only interrupt teaching and learning but it has also coincided with a key assessment period for schools and universities, and many exams have been postponed or cancelled. To mitigate these negative impacts, the inevitable solution was to temporarily migrate to remote working and e-learning in schools and higher education institutions. The approach to e-learning, however needs careful consideration in its implementation due to its inherent resource intense nature which poses challenges in settings that are poorly resourced. Although e-learning might be doable to a certain extend in tertiary education, it is particularly challenging for schools given that online education is a new area for majority of both teachers and learners in Namibia. This unprecedented state of affairs is also marred by the fact that Namibia, although classified as an upper middle-income country, it is characterised by unequal distribution of resources, with a strong divide between urban and rural areas. With the above predicament, this chapter addresses the impact of COVID-19 epidemic on the Namibian education system.