Business Continuity and the Pandemic Threat - Learning from COVID-19 while preparing for the next pandemic

CHAPTER 13: IMPACT ON EDUCATION

Should education be classified as a business or an industry? There are arguments both for and against. Whatever you own personal opinion happens to be, there are certainly lessons (both positive and negative) that the more traditional business sectors can learn from the educational response to the pandemic. This chapter considers the effects of these lockdown restrictions and responses, by looking at educational examples primarily from the UK and China.

Many universities, schools, kindergartens and even commercial training organisations around the world have been closed down to restrict the spread of COVID-19. The formal classroom teaching approach was one of the early victims of the pandemic. In the UK, some schools ...