Manifesto: Sustaining the Positive Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Manifesto: Sustaining the Positive Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic 
Education is an integral aspect of personal, communal, and national developmental processes that are also subject to an array of factors in the social, economic, technological, and political influences. Since 2019, education across the globe has been gravely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Commentators and researchers on the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector highlight that the pandemic has aggravated the challenges that existed in the sector but, at the same time, presented opportunities for change. Access to quality education remains one of the most important factors in the empowerment of people across the globe (Mijs and Roe 2). There is no doubt that education inequality that is influenced by historic social-economic factors such as systemic racism is yet to be addressed to a large extent. The COVID-19 pandemic brought to the spotlight such persistent issues that have thwarted the achievement of academic objectives in the community. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an opportunity that the strategic measures being adopted can be a solution to the historic challenges in the education sector (Ahmed et al. 81). In this light, measures taken to foster the recovery of the education system from the COVID-19 pandemic should be geared towards ensuring equality and quality education for all learners.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of educational institutions and limited contact between educators and learners. Different partners have had increased engagement in education matters to ensure that students continue learning and that the resources available are appropriately utilized. Addressing COVID-19 in the education system has increased the role of learning institutions in the community. Efforts to ensure the sustainability of education led to increased adoption of e-learning, which alludes to the sharing of instructional material and communication between stakeholders involved in using electronic technologies. Although online learning has long existed across all levels of education, the COVID-19 pandemic presented a context where it became the primary means of teaching and learning. The paradigm shift to online learning led to the racialization that the education system serves different people and is substantially structured in favor of some groups. The differences among groups were more vivid in the public education sector, where racial and social-economic boundaries have for long been a factor in the educational achievements made by some students. Despite efforts that have been put in place since the late 1900s, inequality still flourishes in the education system. This can be attributed to underfunding in the education system and the perception that public schools are institutions that serve the local communities (Mijs and Roe 2). Consequently, schools in communities that face economic challenges are less likely to gain the desired support to improve the quality of education or foster equality in education across society. Public schools remain important in facilitating access to education and developing a national identity. With the adequate knowledge that exists about the limitation in achieving equality in educatio...