THE EFFECT OF 2021 FUEL PRICE HIKE ON TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF ASCENT TRANSPORT COMPANY (ATM), ABUJA)

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literatures that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in two sub-headings:

• Conceptual Framework
• Chapter Summary

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The virus: Classification and origin

SARS-CoV-2 is a member of the family Coronaviridae and order Nidovirales. The family consists of two subfamilies, Coronavirinae and Torovirinae and members of the subfamily Coronavirinae are subdivided into four genera:(a) Alphacoronavirus contains the human coronavirus (HCoV)-229E and HCoV-NL63; (b) Betacoronavirus includes HCoV-OC43, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome human coronavirus (SARS-HCoV), HCoV-HKU1, and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV); (c) Gammacoronavirus includes viruses of whales and birds and; (d) Deltacoronavirus includes viruses isolated from pigs and birds [Burrell C, et al.2016]. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to Betacoronavirus together with two highly pathogenic viruses, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped and positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) virus [Kramer A, et al.2006].

SARS-CoV-2 is considered a novel human-infecting Betacoro- navirus [Lu R,et al.2020]. Phylogenetic analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genome indicates that the virus is closely related (with 88% identity) to two bat-derived SARS-like coronaviruses collected in 2018 in east- ern China (bat-SL-CoVZC45 and bat-SL-CoVZXC21) and genetically distinct from SARS-CoV (with about 79% similarity) and MERS-CoV [Lu R,et al.2020]. Using the genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2, RaTG13, and SARS-CoV [Zhou P,et al.2020], a further study found that the virus is more related to BatCoV RaTG13, a bat coronavirus that was previously detected in Rhinolophus affinis from Yunnan Province, with 96.2% overall genome sequence identity [Zhou P,et al.2020]. A study found that no evidence of recombination events detected in the genome of SARS-CoV-2 from other viruses originating from bats such as BatCoV RaTG13, SARS- CoV and SARSr-CoVs [Zhou P,et al.2020]. Altogether, these findings suggest that bats might be the original host of this virus.

However, a study is needed to elucidate whether any inter- mediate hosts have facilitated the transmission of the virus to humans. Bats are unlikely to be the animal that is directly responsi- ble for transmission of the virus to humans for several reasons [Lu R,et al.2020]:

1. there were various non-aquatic animals (including mammals) available for purchase in Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market but no bats were sold or found;
2. SARS-CoV-2 and its close relatives, bat- SL-CoVZC45 and bat-SL-CoVZXC21, have a relatively long branch (sequence identity of less than 90%), suggesting those viruses are not direct ancestors of SARS-CoV-2; and

(3) in other coronaviruses where bat is the natural reservoir such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, other animals have acted as the intermediate host (civets and pos- sibly camels, respectively). Nevertheless, bats do not always need an intermediary host to transmit viruses to humans. For example, Nipah virus in Bangladesh is transmitted through bats shedding into raw date palm sap.

Transmission

The role of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in propagating disease is unclear. Many initial COVID-19 cases were linked to this market suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 was transmitted from animals to humans. However, a genomic study has provided evidence that the virus was introduced from another, yet unknown location, into the market where it spread more rapidly, although human-to-human transmission may have occurred earlier [Yu W,et al.2020]. Clusters of infected family members and medical workers have confirmed the presence of person-to-person transmission [Yu W,et al.2020]. After January 1, less than 10% of patients had market expo- sure and more than 70% patients had no exposure to the market [Yu W, et’al. 2020]. Person-to-person transmission is thought to occur among close contacts mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Fomites may be a large source of transmission, as SARS-CoV has been found to persist on surfaces up to 96h [Kramer A, et al.2016] and other coronaviruses forup to 9 days.

Whether or not there is asymptomatic transmission of disease is controversial. One initial study published on January 30 reported asymptomatic transmission [18], but later it was found that the researchers had not directly interviewed the patient, who did in fact have symptoms prior to transmitting disease [Kramer A, et al.2020]. A more recent study published on February 21 also purported asymptomatic transmission [shang w. 2020], but any such study could be limited by errors in self-reported symptoms or contact with other cases and fomites.

Findings about disease characteristics are rapidly changing and subject to selection bias. A study indicated the mean incubation period was 5.2 days (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 4.1–7.0). The incubation period has been found to be as long as 19 or 24 days , although case definitions typically rely on a 14 day window (G.S 2020).

The basic reproductive number (R0) has been estimated with varying results and interpretations. R0 measures the average num- ber of infections that could result from one infected individual in a fully susceptible population. Studies from previous outbreaks found R0 to be 2.7 for SARS and 2.4 for 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza. One study estimated that that basic reproductive number (R0) was 2.2 (95% CI: 1.4–3.9). However, later in a fur- ther analysis of 12 available studies found that R0 was 3.28. Because R0 represents an average value it is also important to consider the role of super spreaders, who may be hugely responsible for outbreaks within large clusters but who would not largely influence the value of R0. During the acute phase of an outbreak or prepandemic, R0 may be unstable .

In pregnancy, a study of nine pregnancy women who developed COVID-19 in late pregnancy suggested COVID-19 did not lead to substantially worse symptoms than in nonpregnant persons and there is no evidence for intrauterine infection caused by vertical transmission [Chen HEA 2020].

In hospital setting, a study involving 138 COVID-19 suggested that hospital-associated transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred in 41% of patients [Wang. D 2020 ]. Moreover, another study on 425 patients found that the proportion of cases in health care workers gradually increased by time [Wu P, et al.2020]. These cases likely reflect exposure to a higher concentration of virus from sustained contact in close quarters.

Outside China, as of February 12, 2020, there were 441 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in 24 countries of which the first imported case was reported in Thailand on January 13, 2020. Among those countries, 11 countries have reported local transmission with the highest number of cases reported in Singapore with 47 confirmed cases.

Treatments

Similar to MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, there is still no specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19. Isolation and supportive care including oxygen therapy, fluid management, and antibiotics treatment for secondary bacterial infections is recommended. Some COVID-19 patients progressed rapidly to ARDS and septic shock, which was eventually followed by multiple organ failure [Huang C, et al.2020]. Therefore, the effort on initial management of COVID-19 must be addressed to the early recognition of the suspect and contain the disease spread by immediate isolation and infection control measures .

Currently, no vaccination is available, but even if one was avail- able, uptake might be suboptimal. A study of intention to vaccinate during the H1N1 pandemic in the United States was around 50% at the start of the pandemic in May 2009 but had decreased to 16% by January 2010.

Neither is a treatment available. Therefore, the management of the disease has been mostly supportive referring to the disease severity which has been introduced by WHO. If sepsis is identi- fied, empiric antibiotic should be administered based on clinical diagnosis and local epidemiology and susceptibility information. Routine glucocorticoids administration are not recommended to use unless there are another indication. Clinical evidence also does not support corticosteroid treatment. Use of intravenous immunoglobulin might help for severely ill patients .

Drugs are being evaluated in line with past investigations into therapeutic treatments for SARS and MERS. Overall, there is not robust evidence that these antivirals can significantly improve clinical outcomes A. Antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir combined with empirical antibiotic treatment have also been used to treat COVID- 19 patients [Huang C, et al.2020]. Remdesivir which was developed for Ebola virus, has been used to treat imported COVID-19 cases in US [Holshue ML, 2020]. A brief report of treatment combination of Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Arbidol, and Shufeng Jiedu Capsule (SFJDC), a traditional Chinese medicine, showed a clinical benefit to three of four COVID-19 patients [Holshue ML, 2020]. There is an ongoing clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of lopinavir-ritonavir and interferon-α 2b in patients with COVID- 19 [Huang C, et al.2020]. Ramsedivir, a broad spectrum antivirus has demonstrated in vitro and in vivo efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 and has also initi- ated its clinical trial. In addition, other potential drugs from existing antiviral agent have also been proposed.

Control and prevention strategies

COVID-19 is clearly a serious disease of international concern. By some estimates it has a higher reproductive number than SARS, and more people have been reported to have been infected or died from it than SARS. Similar to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, disrupting the chain of transmission is considered key to stopping the spread of disease. Different strategies should be implemented in health care settings and at the local and global levels

Health care settings can unfortunately be an important source of viral transmission. As shown in the model for SARS, applying triage, following correct infection control measures, isolating the cases and contact tracing are key to limit the further spreading of the virus in clinics and hospitals. Suspected cases present- ing at healthcare facilities with symptoms of respiratory infections (e.g. runny nose, fever and cough) must wear a face mask to con- tain the virus and strictly adhere triage procedure. They should not be permitted to wait with other patients seeking medical care at the facilities. They should be placed in a separated, fully ventilated room and approximately 2 m away from other patients with con- venient access to respiratory hygiene supplies. In addition, if a confirmed COVID-19 case require hospitalization, they must be placed in a single patient room with negative air pressure – a minimum of six air changes per hour. Exhausted air has to be filtered through high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and medical personnel entering the room should wear personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, gown, disposable N95, and eye protection. Once the cases are recovered and discharged, the room should be decontaminated or disinfected and personnel entering the room need to wear PPE particularly facemask, gown, eye protection. In a community setting, isolating infected people are the primary measure to interrupt the transmission. For example, immediate actions taken by Chinese health authorities included isolating the infected people and quarantining of suspected peo- ple and their close contacts. Also, as there are still conflicting assumptions regarding the animal origins of the virus (i.e. some studies linked the virus to bat while others associated the virus with snake), contacts with these animal fluids or tissues or consumption of wild caught animal meet should be avoided. Moreover, educating the public to recognize unusual symptoms such as chronic cough or shortness of breath is essential therefore that they could seek medical care for early detection of the virus. If large-scale community transmission occurs, mitigating social gatherings, temporary school closure, home isolation, close monitoring of symptomatic individual, provision of life supports (e.g. oxygen supply, mechanical ventilator), personal hand hygiene, and wear- ing personal protective equipment such as facemask should also be enforced .

In global setting, locking down Wuhan city was one of the immediate measure taken by Chinese authorities and hence had slowed the global spread of COVID-19. Air travel should be limited for the cases unless severe medical attentions are required. Setting up temperature check or scanning is mandatory at airport and border to identify the suspected cases. Continued research into the virus is critical to trace the source of the outbreak and provide evidence for future outbreak [Heymann DL, Shindo et al.2020].

General Knowledge of COVID-19

In a study by Ama, Shaibu and Burnette (2020:147) it was found that 96.96% of study subjects have correct knowledge of the diagnosis of COVID-19. The high level of knowledge observed in that study was attributed to the high level of education of the health workers. About 55% and 75% of community pharmacists had correct knowledge of COVID-19 presentation in a study exploring community pharmacists‘ knowledge, attitudes and practices towards patients with COVID-19 in Italy (Marrazano et al. 2020:4). In another study conducted in Nigeria, Som, Bhattacherjee, Guha, Basu and Datta (2020:18), found that community pharmacists were knowledgeable about the basic COVID-19-related information such as causative agent and modes of transmission. However, these community pharmacists had deficiencies in critical areas of COVID-19 such as voluntary counseling and practices on infant feeding. Okpala et al. (2020:551) also reported community pharmacists having a good knowledge of COVID-19. Increased awareness and high scores obtained in their study were attributed to increasing in- service training currently underway in urban areas of Nigeria of late.

In the study of Doda, Negi, Gaur and Harsh (2020:25), though all participants had incomplete knowledge of COVID-19 and its related issues, the nursing staff were reported to have performed poorly with regards to knowledge on COVID-19 preventive issues and post-exposure prophylaxis. In a study conducted in the rural region of India, though, the authors found the nursing staff to have a good knowledge of COVID-19 in relation to the ‗meaning‘, ‗prevalence and vulnerability‘, ‗stigma and discrimination‘ and counseling and testing‘; the community pharmacists, however, had poor knowledge of universal precautions, PEP, symptom management and opportunistic infection and anti-retroviral therapy (Pal, Chattopadhyay, Mandal, & Biswas 2016:131). Seventeen percent of the community pharmacists had an ‗excellent‘ knowledge, obtaining a knowledge score of 90%, while about 77% had a moderate level of knowledge (score of 70-90%). Pal et al. (2019:130) like Okpala et al. (2020) linked the good knowledge displayed by participants to training they received a year before their survey. Conclusively, they stated that there was retention of knowledge among community pharmacists, and recommended the need for repeated in-service training for community pharmacists to boost their COVID-19-related knowledge.

Tertiary Education/University

In consideration of goals and national and institutional diversifications, it is not an easy task to define both modern higher education and a university. Higher education covers a wider range of higher learning institutions including the university. These higher learning institutions could be organized in different ways, commonly within a university and in a separate institution as university and other tertiary learning institutions. For instance, a university, from the British perspective, is an institution with its power to award its own degree and is preeminent in the field of research (Allen, 1988). Generally, higher education is a set that constitutes the university, which is a subset of higher education. However, in some contexts, higher education and university are used interchangeably (Assié-Lumumba, 2005). Nevertheless, they do not cover the same reality. Higher education denotes a more holistic resonance as it encompasses all post-secondary or tertiary institutions. A university is part of higher learning institution that may reward a degree or some sort of credential. Modern higher education is defined as an organized tertiary learning and training activities and institutions that include conventional universities such as arts, humanities, and science faculties and more specialized university institutions in agriculture, engineering, science, and technology. The concept of higher education also includes such post-secondary institutions like polytechnics, colleges of education, and “grandes école.” Under the umbrella of higher education come all forms of professional institutions. Even this wide spectrum does not exhaust the possibilities of forms of higher education (AssiéLumumba, 2005). A university, on the other hand, represents both a higher learning institution and a community of scholars or persons. A university is a higher learning institution that brings men and women to a high level of intellectual development in the arts and science, and in the traditional professional disciplines, and promotes high-level research. It also signifies a community of persons engaged in study and research. A university is a source of universal knowledge and highly skilled human power for the professions. Other higher education institutions are also engaged in the training of middle class technical and vocational professional personnel. Universities and other institutions of higher education differ in their mission, goal, functions, the requisite qualification of the faculty, the criteria for admission of students, the duration of programs they offer, and the type of certification they award (Assié-Lumumba, 2005). All these depend on the needs and priorities of different societies. Universitas, a name applied to diversified corporate bodies of the Middle Ages in Europe, also include the organization of teachers and students. Through time, the name had more particularly attached to the teacher-student corporate organization as universitas litterarum, from which, particularly since the 18th century, the name University was derived. Thence, cultivation of the intellectual power and the methodological studies of academic disciplines have become the major purpose of the university (Ruegg, 1992). According to Verger (1992a), the modern term university has been derived from the classical Latin word, universitas, which means “the totality” or the “whole.” In the medieval times, universitas had been a general term used to denote all kinds of community or corporate such as guild, a trade, a brotherhood, and so on. Gradually, universitas magistrorum et scholarium (“the university of masters and students”) stands for organized communities of individuals, who were responsible for higher learning and study. Moreover, medieval university was a higher learning and teaching institution for a community of scholars with a certain degree of freedom or independence and internal unity. Some form of teaching and learning had antedated the emergence of a university in the world. The relative advancement of civilization had necessitated for higher learning and paved the way for the emergence of a university (Perkin, 2007). A university has stronger power of attraction of students and teachers or academic staff than the other higher education forms. Universities derive great prestige from their history where they secured some sort of administrative autonomy. Universities, in the medieval period, were one of the most privileged and prestigious institutions for the advancement of scholastic and academic thought and culture. Because universities constitute, in the same place, diversified scholars, they were and still are agents for the growth of knowledge that has the power to change the world. At the same time, universities also preserve heritage of the past. A university in the era of Newman was a public space where many academic people make academic contribution.

It is a place where inquiry is pushed forward, and discoveries verified and perfected, and rashness rendered innocuous, and error exposed, by the collision of mind with mind, and knowledge with knowledge. It is the place where the professor becomes eloquent, and is a missionary and a preacher, displaying his science in its most complete and winning form, pouring it forth with the zeal of enthusiasm, and lighting up his own love of it in the breasts of his hearers (Newman, 1910, no page). Taking note of the above brief account, the meaning of a university/higher education is generally understood as a higher learning institution and academic environment, where a community of scholars engage in study (teaching and learning), research, and community services. It is also a center for professional training to serve society’s socioeconomic, political and cultural needs. Such institutions emerged and developed in the different parts of the world.

The Idea of a University/Higher Education It is not easy to define the idea of a university because it is differentiated in many ways. Hence, it will be good to understand higher education or a university in terms of its purpose and/or functions. The purpose of higher education is a broad and ambiguous issue as well (Clark, 1981). It is very difficult to establish and state a comprehensive purpose of a university. What is relatively possible to do is to explain the common tasks of higher education and a university. Higher learning institutions and universities have something to do with education and scholarship through teaching, research, and public services. Altbach (2006, p. 104) also confirms that ''defining a university is not an easy task, especially in this era of differentiation in higher education, with new and diverse institutions emerging everywhere'' without explaining the common functions, purposes and values. The invisible product of a university, knowledge, may be the most common powerful element in the culture of a society. It may affect “the rise and fall of professions and even of social classes, of regions and even of nations” (Kerr, 1995, p. xiv). Medieval universities were teaching and training students in the service of the Church in the area of law, medicine, Church administration and others. They were largely vocational schools that enable students be able to gain employment within the established socio-economic order, not universities (Clark, 1981). A brief look to the philosophy and goals of education and particularly the philosophy and goal of higher education will help us to understand the current idea of a university. The purpose of education, during the era of Aristotle had been to satisfy the material need of society through the production of learned citizens (Frijhoff, 1997). Philosophically, education consists of two important questions: what is education? What is education for? Education, according to Jarvis (1995, p.105), is an “organized and sustained instruction designed to communicate a combination of knowledge, skills, and understanding valuable for all the activities of life.” For the Chinese philosopher, Confucius, “education is a process of integrating individuals into society and that knowledge should be acquired for the sake of harmony in society” (quoted in Jarvis, 1995, p.105). Allen (1988) has defined education as “the cultivation of the individual and learning is for the sake of understanding.” One of the places where such education is provided with high level is higher education/university, whose idea has been shifting through time. A university is part of the general socioeconomic and political fabric of a given society and era. It is an expression of its time and features both present and future. Higher education/university has a major feature of transforming itself in conformity with changing situations (Kerr, 1995). The idea of a university, for Jawaharlal Nehru, as Tilak (2015, p.56) quoted it, “stands for humanism, for tolerance, for progress, for the adventure of ideas and the search for truth. It stands for the onward march of humans towards ever-higher objectives. If universities discharge their duties adequately, then all is well with the nation and the people.” Throughout history, universities have played three interlocking roles, but differently at different times and in different places. These roles are teaching new generations; preserving and discovering knowledge; and contributing talent, ideas, advice, and challenge to the wider society. In an era of “non-lieux” (Non-places), universities are best placed to fulfill those roles today by resisting the pressures to uniformity and contributing to an intergenerational dialogue that requires diversity and disputation (Toope, 2014). In the Western world, Plato has perceived the purpose of higher education as “the cultivation of the individual for the sake of the ideal society; the individual was to be helped to achieve inner happiness, which would allow the state to benefit from the harmony of satisfied citizens fulfilling their proper roles” (Allen, 1988, p.89). The goal of higher education and the university was the pursuit of truth in learning, and dedication to the advancement of knowledge and the training of scholars for its own sake and the betterment of the life of the individual and the society. This includes the cultivation/training of the mind and the teaching of vocational and technical skills. Generally, university education should aim at initiating critical thinking through both teaching and research. This critical thinking is imperative to use resources better and to improve the human condition, with intelligence and for good judgment, to cope up with any eventuality. Therefore, education is to improve life, develop good judgment, and understand our environment. Learning is not a rivalry or a contest, but “it is a conversation” and the virtue of a university (as a place of many studies) is to exhibit it in this character'' (Oakeshott, 2004, p. 23). However, Newman (1996) did not accept the view of utility and the essentiality of research as the idea/purpose or function of a university. Newman considers only a liberal education in a university and proposes the establishment of a separate institution for research. For him, teaching and research require different abilities and are separate gifts and do not exist equally in the same person. He had the belief that a university is for the diffusion of knowledge, not for its advancement. The word University for Newman implies the pursuit of universal knowledge, because for him all knowledge forms one whole (Newman, 1910; Fuller, 2003). The whole idea of Newman's university is different from instruction for a vocation or a profession. “The purpose of a university education is the achievement of a particular expansion of outlook, turn of mind, habit of thought, and capacity for social and civic interaction” (Newman, 1996, p. xv). “Liberal education” is the principal purpose of a university for Newman (Ker, 2011; Fuller, 2003). Jaspers (1965), on the other hand, argues that the university is a place for the search of truth. Truth requires systematic method of research, which is the foremost concern of a university. The second purpose of a university is teaching, because researched truth must be transmitted through teaching. A university has a third function that is culture (Jaspers, 1965). The unfinished struggle to create an “African University”, for instance, based its argument of the idea of the university on the philosophy that “every human being is born into a valid and legitimate knowledge system” that could be enriched and improved by higher education. For Africa, a university or higher education is supposed to be “developmental”: functioning as center for knowledge (Pursuit, promotion and dissemination), research, the provision of intellectual leadership, manpower development, promotion of social and economic modernization, and intercontinental unity and international understanding (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2017). The different approaches presented above indicate that universities and the higher education institutions must not have common and certain prescribed goals and purposes. The idea of a university depends on the socio-economic and political advancement of a society. In the Medieval period, the purpose of universities, with constant changes of emphasis, had been learning, virtue, and utility. It was to produce learned men, to educate in virtue, or to satisfy the material need of society. In other words, its purpose was to “advance knowledge, preparation the advancement of the observance of a code of social, moral, and religious conduct, and training for the high office or the professions” (Frijhoff, 1997). During the early medieval period, university studies had two purposes namely, training in humanism and training for a profession (de Ridder-Symoens, 1997). Any modification or/and change in emphasis to these purposes will transform universities. The modifications, priorities, and emphasis of the purposes are subject to the changes of the socio-economic, cultural, and political advancements, which are also the products of the overall activities of universities and diversification and proliferating academic disciplines (Kerr, 1995). Changes and shifts in emphasis in the purposes and priorities have caused the changing physiognomy of higher education (Frijhoff (1997). Hence, the idea of university must be to achieve the required educational purposes of a certain society at a certain time. The traditional idea of a university never fades out but transforms and actualizes itself into new situations. A university perhaps no longer functions in the same way as it did before. Different people have different reflection about the contemporary university. Some think that the university entered a new phase, transformed; and others consider that a university has altogether diminished or the age of the university has ended. Simons et al. (2011) assume that contemporary university include such activities as experiments and inventions, the projects, initiatives and reflections, research, teaching, community services. The contemporary public role of a university “do neither look backwards to embrace old ideas of the university, nor just engage in abstract, normative or principled discussion” (Simons et al., 2011, pp. 7-8).

Education and tertiary education in Nigeria

Education, its meaning and level of attachment has been a matter of concern and controversy among various individuals at different fora and occasions Zuofa, Tawari & Koko (1999), Awosiyan (2004), Edem-Ntibi (2005) and Shagari (2007). For instance, in Nigeria, the FRN (1999) stipulates that the minimum educational qualification required to be, for example, a Head of State, is a secondary school certificate or its equivalent. This equivalent is further interpreted to mean a primary six school leaving certificate and the ability to read, write, understand and communicate in English language to the satisfaction of the Independent National Electoral Commission. But on the other hand there are also those that have attained the Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D) from recognizable tertiary educational institutions. Bearing in mind the differences in gap in terms of years, training, experience and academic qualifications, it is the view of this study, that perhaps this will significantly have a tremendous effect on national security. This is because according to Wallace (1986), Ajayi (1999), Glatthorn (2005), Dreeben (2006), Altbach, Reisberg & Rumbley (2009) and Anya (2013), each level of education (be it primary, secondary or tertiary) has its own development curricula as well as the acceptable caliber of personnel and teachers to manned them. Again, Ojo (2003), Akpama (2007), Nwag (2007), Fessler (2009), Borko and Putman (2010) and Ajumogobia (2011), are of the view that the highest form of manpower or capacity building is best handed at the tertiary educational level, where there are specialized fields in accordance with the needs of the nation as well as the vocational expectation and aspirational needs – disposition of the individual concerned.

Impact of Covid-19 on Tertiary Education

An economic recession could impact HEIs in various ways like decrease in employment opportunities for university graduates who are likely to enter the job market in the next few months, possible delays or inability of students in paying tuition fees and education-related other expenses, and government’s inability to meet commitments to public-funded institutions as per the requirements. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) estimates that Covid-19 may cause the global economy to shrink by nearly 1% by the end of 2020, while the International Labor Organization (ILO) projects an increase in global unemployment of between 5.3 million and 24.7 million, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) projects a 13% to 32% global trade decline this year (Tripathi & Amann, 2020). The changes in student behavior towards the mode and preference of particular degree programs might become a significant impact after the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the impact would vary from context to context, the overall impact on higher education is likely to be quite significant (Tripathi & Amann, 2020). The International Association of Universities (IAU, 2020) survey also indicates that the Covid-19 has had an impact on international student mobility at 89% of HEIs. The type of impact is diverse and varies from institution to institution, but everywhere it has been negative. As far as research is concerned, 80% of HEIs reported that research has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic at their institutions. The most common impact of Covid-19 has been the cancelling of international travel (at 83% of HEIs) and the cancellation or postponement of scientific conferences (81% of HEIs). Moreover, scientific projects are at risk of not being completed at a bit more than half of HEIs (52%). The IAU Global Survey also reveals that almost 80% of the respondents believe that Covid-19 will have an impact on the enrolment numbers for the new academic year. Almost half (46%) believe that the impact will affect both international and local students. Some HEIs, especially private ones, reported that this impact would have negative financial consequences (IAU, 2020).

THE SUDDEN SHIFT TO THE ONLINE MODE OF EDUCATION

With Covid-19, we are seeing how yesterday’s disruptors can become today’s lifeguards. While traditional institutions once viewed online education as a threat, it has come to their rescue (Kandri, 2020). However, lecturers are still struggling to maintain the same depth of engagement with students they could have in a classroom setting. Any particular method of working becomes successful and adopted widely only when the method is effective and efficient in bringing about a change for the better. The effective ways of teaching, conducting assessments and ensuring teaching-learning to be interesting, engaging and context-specific are crucial for online mode of education. Some of the partnerships sparked between universities, online education companies and tech providers may continue beyond the pandemic (Kandri, 2020). However, remote learning is just a first step and experimental in the long journey to offering online education as it includes ensuring effective student engagement tools and teacher training.

RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC BY VARIOUS UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE WORLD

As Covid-19 has influenced global higher education, the universities across the world have been responding to Covid-19 in different ways. Some of the universities in Australia, like Monash University and Victoria University, have temporarily stopped their regular learning to design online learning. At the same time, universities like University of Queensland continued face-toface learning with physical distancing protocol with online recordings (Crawford et al., 2020). In China, all schools and universities were on halt till the Lunar New Year, with a planned return on 31 January, next year. There was a plan on postponing the spring semester as announced on 26 January. China’s Ministry of Education had declared on 28 January that this would extend to all schools and universities across the country, and universities and also many standardized tests like GRE, GMAT, IELTS and TOEFL (Crawford et al., 2020). In India, all academic activities were suspended after the announcement of the University Grants Commission (UGC) on 19 March to postpone examinations in all universities until the end of March. All the central universities like the University of Hyderabad announced to defer all academic activities and close their hostels, and even private universities the SRM Institute of Science and Technology and VIT, Vellore declared the summer vacation for students (Crawford et al., 2020). Some renowned universities in the US, like Havard University, and MIT decided to move online completely from 23 March 2020 onwards. Many universities in the US moved Spring Break by one week to allow the transition to online. It is reported that only 5 percent (260 out of 5,300) higher education institutions in the US could shift to online instruction with minimal on-campus presence, and most higher education institutions have made the transition to online mode (Crawford et al., 2020).

CHAPTER SUMMARY

In this review the researcher has sampled the opinions and views of several authors and scholars on Covid-19 and Tertiary Education. The works of scholars who conducted empirical studies have been reviewed also. The chapter has made clear the relevant literatures.