Online Learning Tools, Strategies, and Challenges during the third wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Educational Institutions of Kabul, Afghanistan

Education/ education policy

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged and disrupted both private and public sectors of Afghanistan’s education and all learning institutions from kindergarten to higher education unanimously agreed to shift their services from face-to-face learning to an online learning format. A self-administered questionnaire was developed by the author and 50 educational institutions were selected based on a particular assessment. All the questionnaires were responded by vice-chancellors, principals, or by the department of quality assurance of the relevant institution. The purpose of the study was to analyze different aspects of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic but it mainly focused on the adopted learning strategies, and tools, and the current challenges faced by the educational institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the study revealed that Zoom, Telegram, WhatsApp, and HLMS were the major tools of the institutions while making a daily schedule, choosing the right technology, and broadcasting on-air lessons through television and radio were the main strategies adopted by these institutions. The study also depicts the fact that students’ motivation has increased in the institutions of Afghanistan in comparison to the first and second wave of COVID-19 but the research signals that students and families are still not satisfied with the current process of online learning. The findings of the study also revealed that the outbreak of COVID-19 had negative economic impacts on the educational sector and almost none of the private educational centers had received any government financial support. Finally, internet problems, the unwillingness of students to take part in online classes, and the inability to catch up well through online systems were considered major challenges by the institutions.

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