The Impact of E-Learning during COVID-19 on Study Performance

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of students out of schools worldwide. The casc of Cambodia is not an exception to this situation. As the start of the Coronavirus in 2019 has caused public health awareness (Subedi et al., 2020), the spread of the virus raised concerns for schools and universitics to shut down. Countries in almost all regions around the world closed down their schools as a part of the preventive measures to control the virus. The virus has not only affected education but also socialization. As Cambodia has experienced the presence of the virus, the global pandemic has turned everything upside down; hence, its effect on Cambodia’s education sector is not surprising.

Cambodia’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 occurred in late January 2020. With a second case in early March 2020 in Siem Reap province, home of the renowned temples of Angkor Wat, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), in an abundance of caution, closed the schools until further notice. All of Cambodia’s 13,300 schools have been closed since March 16, 2020, leading many students to seek distance learning opportunities to continue their education. To respond to this crisis, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been working closely with the MoEYS in Cambodia to establish continuous learning activities from carly childhood through to primary, lower, and upper secondary education. Distance learning assets, including videos and e-lessons, are being broadcast on various social media platforms, television and radio, aiming to reach every household in Cambodia. E-Learning is a type of learning or teaching platform that depends on electronic devices and technology instead of papers and classroom teaching. Thus, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, students had to meet teachers online for learning.