Survival in a Pandemic: Reflections on Self-Resilience and Sustainability by Teachers of Private For-Profit Schools in a Low Developed Country (LDC)

Abstract

This study is a systematic investigation into the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the economic welfare of private secondary school teachers in a low developed country (LDC). Precisely, the study assesses the opportunities and challenges faced by the teachers in question. Given the fact that the vast majority among the private teaching fraternity went without a pay for a period close to twenty-two months, there is no doubt that many of them experienced financially unbearable long rough period to deal with, and a very big task of forging means of survival. The study thus renders a further inquiry into teachers’ newly acquired opportunities; their financial considerations with regard to these opportunities as well as the possibility of having these teachers freely leave their new lucrative opportunities to run back to classrooms. As per its finding, this study revealed that; the long time on the side-lines inevitably necessitated a quick change in (private) teachers’ mind-set. With the closure of schools, teachers were left with no further option but to take on alternative duties or else remain redundant all through the lock down period. The pandemic rendered various implications to private teachers’ economic welfare; with the most apparent ones being a remarkable decline in their income and savings. As it goes that; desperate moments call for desperate measures, the most flexible among these private secondary teaching fraternity quickly jumped onto carrying out all sorts of hustles at their disposal just to make sure that their financial welfare is not totally derailed. In this, majority teachers found more lucrative alternatives to their teaching profession and as such, many currently find themselves very reluctant to resume teaching, even with the lifting of the school shut down. Ultimately, as face-to-face teaching and learning resumes, the study recommends that teachers need help to adjust to the new normal and lift their spirits once more. They need assistance from the government, along with clarity from policymakers to effectively support them in striking a balance between their profession as well as their economic welfare during and after the current pandemic.