Left Behind Under Covid-19: The Limits and Impact of Online Education at the Basic School Level in Ghana

Abstract

This study examines the impact of Covid-19 on access to online education or Distance Education at the basic school level. Specifically, it sought to analyse the differential access to online education due to digital divide resulting from the mechanism of income inequalities. The case study strategy within the qualitative approach was deployed for the study. Among other things, the study revealed that differences in income affected children’s access to online education during the school closures. While children from lower income groups had access to online education, access doubled for children from high income groups. The study also found that children accessed online lessons with different technological devices such as smart phones, computers, laptops and tablets. It was further found that there are variations in the multimedia used by schools in the delivery of lessons. The multimedia commonly used by schools include WhatsApp, Zoom and Google classroom, all of which were found to have different impact on the quality of online studies