Factors Affecting Access to E-Learning during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic Among Rural-Based Pharmacy Students in Zambia: A Qualitative Study.
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected educational systems worldwide, leading to the total physical closure of schools, universities, and colleges in many countries. By mid-April
2020, approximately 1.7 billion learners were affected worldwide due to school closures in response to the pandemic. According to UNESCO monitoring, 191 countries implemented nationwide
closures as well as local closures, impacting about 98.4% of the world’s student population.
In the wake of continuity education for universities and colleges, there was an implementation of e-learning. E-learning implementation in higher education continues to gain prominence in both developed and developing countries, and while most universities in Information and Communication Technology (ICT)- rich environments are exploring different ways of using ICT and multimedia resources to enhance teaching and learning, the same cannot be said about ICT-challenged environments. The disparity in terms of access to e-learning in different geographical locations of the country and rural areas may be termed challenging in this context. Nevertheless, the question of successful and sustainable e-learning implementation remains a challenge, particularly in ICT-challenged environments.
Zambia, a country in the Center of the Southern African Region only had its first two cases reported on the 18th of March 2020. This resulted in the Zambian government declaring that all
schools, colleges and universities be closed with immediate effect on Friday 20 March 2020. Because of this, most students or learners were forced to stay home and continue with their education via online platforms. Despite this unfortunate situation, students were expected to learn with the use of Web 2.0 tools.
Epidemiol Open J. 2021; 6(1): 20-29. doi: 10.17140/EPOJ-6-124
