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Nargis Mukumova, Independent scientific applicant, “Silk Road”
International University of Tourism, Uzbekistan
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IS RESHAPING EDUCATION
Nargis Mukumova
Abstract: COVID-19 is a disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus.
This article is about the impact of COVID-19 on the education system of
Uzbekistan. The article studies the role of COVID-19 as a catalyst for distance
education in the current prevailing conditions.
Keywords: pandemic, quarantine, education,
system transformation,
distance learning.
In December 2019, the first cases of pneumonia of unknown origin were
discovered among local residents associated with the local animal market,
in Wuhan, China. On 31 December 2019, Chinese authorities informed the
World Health Organization (WHO) of an outbreak of unknown pneumonia.
On 30 January, WHO recognized the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a
public health emergency of international concern. On February 11, 2020, the
disease was called the new coronavirus disease (COVID-2019).
On 11 March 2020, WHO announced that the outbreak had become
pandemic.
As of June 22, 9 078 502 cases of infection were confirmed in 213
countries and territories, 471 248 fatalities, 4 861 784 people recovered. [1]
The COVID-19 pandemic affected most countries of the world and
almost all spheres of public life, and the education system was no exception.
One of the ways to contain coronavirus infection is still social exclusion; its
measures required the partial or complete closure of educational
institutions and their associated infrastructure. Localization and social
exclusion measures have led to shocks that the education system has not
experienced since World War II.
As a result, more than 1.5 billion students worldwide (91.3% of the total
number of students) are cut off from their schools and universities. (Fig.1.)
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Fig. 1. Global monitoring of school closures caused by COVID-19. [7]
School closures impact not only students, teachers, and families, but
have far-reaching economic and societal consequences. School closures in
response to the pandemic have shed light on various social and economic
issues, including student debt, digital learning, food insecurity, and
homelessness, as well as access to childcare, health care, housing, internet,
and disability services. The impact was more severe for disadvantaged
children and their families, causing interrupted learning, compromised
nutrition, childcare problems, and consequent economic cost to families
who could not work. In response to school closures, UNESCO recommended
the use of distance learning programs and open educational applications
and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely
and limit the disruption of education. [2]
The pandemic revealed the weakest place in the education system,
based on the concept of “direct education”, in which teachers and students
must be present in the same place at the same time. The only possible
solution to this problem for most universities was the transition to distance
learning. However, this solution led to another problem: the digital divide
between universities, teachers and students. It turned out that a significant
part of our universities do not have the necessary technical and educational
base for going online. For example, according to Bloomberg Businessweek,
even in the American higher education industry worth $ 600 billion and with
experience in "emergency training" in connection with the hurricane
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Katrina in 2005, 70% of the 1.5 million teachers never taught virtual
courses. [3]
In Uzbekistan, after the detection of the first case of coronavirus
infection, by decision of the Special Republican Commission from March 16,
2020, quarantine closed pre-school, secondary and higher educational
institutions. Such an immediate reaction, especially at the very initial stage
of the spread of the virus, is very effective and highly recommended by
international experts.
To mitigate the negative consequences of the spread of coronavirus, two
packages of social and economic measures were approved by decree of the
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. A wide range of adopted directly
relates to issues related to education.
According to the Ministry of Information Technology and
Communications Development of Uzbekistan for March 2020, the Republic
of Uzbekistan ranks 96th in the overall ranking for Internet speed among
176 countries, and 133rd in terms of mobile Internet speed. In addition,
according to the information portal «Datareportal», in 2020 only 55% of the
population (18.34 million people) use the Internet.
These numbers indirectly indicate that most students may have
problems with the speed of the Internet. Moreover, even those who have
access to the Internet are not always able to pay its cost. Thus, according to
an analysis of experts from Picodi.com conducted in December 2019,
Uzbekistan took 11th place among 62 countries in average Internet cost per
100 megabits per second (m / s). For comparison: in Uzbekistan, the cost of
100 m / s is $ 51, in neighboring Kazakhstan - $ 11, and in Kyrgyzstan - $ 34.
[4]
For these reasons, The Ministry of Public education recognizes that
online learning will not be able to provide equal access to educational
resources for all students in the country. However, with one hundred
percent coverage of the territory of Uzbekistan with digital television, the
use of television broadcasting is the only possible option to ensure mass
distance learning.
In this regard, the Ministry of Information Technology and
Communications Development has been tasked with providing social
facilities with high-speed Internet access, and by the end of the year to reach
high-speed mobile Internet coverage up to 90 percent.
The Ministry of Public education response to the crisis and the
establishment of distance learning were prompt. In a few days, 350 video
lessons were prepared, and on March 30, they began broadcasting on
several state-owned television channels. Lessons are available in Uzbek and
Russian with sign language. In parallel, these videos were posted on The
Ministry of public education social networks, including on YouTube and
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Mover.uz video platforms, as well as on kundalik.com, a platform for
managing the educational process. [5]
The question arises: what can be good in today's situation caused by the
coronavirus pandemic if everything is so bad? Nevertheless, there is a
positive answer to it. And not even one. For example, Tal Frankfurt, a
member of the Forbes Technology Council, a community of world-class IT
directors and technical managers, is convinced that global crises always
contribute not only to technological progress, but also to their widespread
implementation in society in ways that were previously considered
impossible.
From this point of view, the crisis associated with COVID-19 can be
considered as a “bypass button” for the widespread use of technological
processes and models of thinking, which under ordinary conditions would
require many, many years. Indeed, there is nothing better than a good crisis
to shake up any industry, states one of the articles on THE World University
Rankings.
The oil spill by the Exxon Valdez tanker in 1989 transformed the energy
industry, 2008 financial crisis - banking sector. COVID-19 is doing the same
thing today with higher education. Mansur Khamitov, a professor at
Nanyang University of Technology in Singapore, says the following: “Higher
education has already experimented with distance learning, but its
“adoption” was slow. “COVID-19, of course, has made a major breakthrough,
in which the vast majority of leading universities around the world have
made a rather dramatic shift to full-scale distance learning.” [3]
In a pandemic, accelerated digitalization can be a test of the strength of
teachers, educational institutions, and the national education system. There
is a paradigm shift in the entire education system, and we can say with
confidence that it will not be the same. Society is getting used to online
learning, and the crisis is a catalyst that has accelerated the development of
online education.
Establishing effective distance learning is one of the most advanced
methods of modern education. Paradoxically, the importance of the
development of digital technologies in Uzbekistan has once again been
proved by the pandemic.
References:
1.https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_COVID-
http://www.tsu.ru/university/rector_page/mirovoe-vysshee-
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https://review.uz/ru/post/globalnoe-vliyanie-covid-19-na-sistemu-
https://blogs.worldbank.org/ru/europeandcentralasia/uzbekistan-
timely-response-learning-during-school-closures
6.https://qz.com/1826369/how-coronavirus-is-changing-education/
https://ru.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse
Sitora Primova PhD researcher at University World Economy and
Diplomacy
IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ON THE TRANSPORT AND
TRANSIT ECONOMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN: MEASURES
TAKEN AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES
S.Primova
Abstract: The article examines the impact of the pandemic on the
transport and transit economy of Uzbekistan, analyzes the problems that
arose as a result of the pandemic and measures taken by the state during the
crisis period. Positive developments in the transit economy were also noted,
such as the activation of the transition to digitalization, the new transport
corridor and the strengthening of integration of the Central Asian countries.
Keywords: coronavirus, transit economy, digitalization, integration,
tariffs, export, transport corridor.
The world health organization (WHO) has declared the new
coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic [1]. Worldwide,
serious measures are being taken to combat the spread of coronavirus
infection, primarily by imposing restrictions on the movement of people on
transport and air routes, as well as suspending the activities of enterprises.
In Uzbekistan, as in all countries, in order to prevent the spread of the virus,
closed their borders and stopped passenger traffic in transport routes.
Consequently, the transport industry has been seriously affected around the
world.
For the study were analyzed the works of V.P. Sidenko, A.V. Kuznetsov,
A.N. Prikazyuk "Problems of epidemiology and prevention of natural foci
infections in the territory of international transport corridors", D.T.
Ibragimov "Assessment of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the
transport sector of Uzbekistan and measures to mitigate negative
consequences", materials of JSC "Uzbekistan Temir Yullari", IPEM, SCO
organization and Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
