Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on education in Nigeria: Insights from teachers and students on virtual/online learning

BACKGROUND: As in many countries worldwide, due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, higher institutions in Nigeria closed in March 2020 and only began reopening in October of the same year. As a result of the lockdown, some higher institutions had to quickly move from the traditional face-to-face teaching method to virtual learning. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on education in Nigeria and also provide recommendations that may be useful in developing remote teaching contingency strategies. Five-point Likert-scale questionnaire targeting students and teachers separately was designed to get feedbacks from both students and teachers on their experiences, issues and successes. The questionnaires were divided into five categories: virtual classrooms, course learning outcomes, alternative method of assessment, impact of online teaching and satisfaction. RESULTS: A total of 703 students and 60 teachers from five different local universities participated in this study. All participants (> 50%) had difficulties with Internet connection. Students (67%) as well as teachers (59%) agree that they had limited interactions with one another and this negatively influence student’s satisfaction (p < 0.01). While students were split on the most appropriate method of assessment, teachers (63%) believe assignments and oral examinations are more suitable for online teaching. Many teachers (66%) admitted that it was difficult assessing students’ abilities and performance. Some students (> 40%) were concerned about the number of assignments given. Most teachers (84%) believe there is an increase in tendency for examination malpractice when assessment was conducted virtually. Students had significantly (p < 0.05) higher marks in all courses during online assessment compared to previous session involving face-to-face teaching. About 83% of teachers admitted it was difficult explaining complex scientific concepts. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, we provided recommendations to help educational institutions in Nigeria develop remote teaching contingency strategies. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s42269-021-00538-6.