The WHO study is from 2020 and is the result of the joint work between Professor George Thadathil and his assistant, prof. Yadhika Prasad, both of the Salesian College Siliguri, and of professors Willy Chambi and Érika Gabriela Rojas Silva of the Salesian University of Bolivia.
When the call for proposals for the research project arrived, the Salesian College Siliguri had already conducted research on the impact of the pandemic on its campus and in Sonada. The Departments of Sociology and Psychology were involved in the study. Thus, the Indian Institute shared the data collected with the Bolivian research team, which in turn replicated the study. The final result was jointly reviewed and the research was then published.
Although these two institutions are geographically on two different continents, both have been affected by the pandemic and faced similar challenges in ensuring the continuity of higher education. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced educational institutions to close their doors to contain the spread of the infection. However, education did not stop: the way of teaching changed and the lessons took place in a virtual format. Precisely this new way of interfacing with students allows us to enter a new paradigm of education.
At the same time, this face-to-face to virtual migration has brought challenges to higher education institutions around the world, including Salesian ones, which are committed to promoting free access to higher education, especially for young people with economic and social disadvantages. Tools were therefore provided to access videoconferences, to participate in online lessons and to conduct tests and exams.
The global pandemic, therefore, has brought new challenges to academics and urged researchers to measure the impact of the new situation in the educational community.
The text of the research is available at the following link.