{"id":1003,"date":"2021-06-09T08:37:11","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T08:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawblog.uclancyprus.ac.cy\/?p=1003"},"modified":"2021-06-09T08:42:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T08:42:52","slug":"uclan-cyprus-school-of-law-annual-writing-competition-2020-21-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawblog.uclancyprus.ac.cy\/uclan-cyprus-school-of-law-annual-writing-competition-2020-21-2\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLan Cyprus School of Law Annual Writing Competition 2020\/21"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Angelina Alyabyeva – Winner <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Covid-19 pandemic has entered into our lives in the most unpredictable way. As of February 2021, almost a year after the first cases of the virus were recorded in the Republic of Cyprus (\u2018Cyprus\u2019), there have been more than 34,000 cases and more than 230 deaths, according to official statistics (Cyprus (covid19healthsystem.org)<\/a>. Despite the fact that Cyprus has not been as heavily affected by COVID -19 cases and deaths as other European countries, such as France and Italy, it has, nonetheless, experienced some major consequences, mainly in the economic and educational sectors. These consequences have affected people from all age groups but importantly, the youth are the ones that will mostly bear the negative results since they are affected both in terms of educational as well as employment prospects. According to Lord Sumption<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026poor, the inadequately housed, the precariously employed and the socially isolated have suffered most from the [United Kingdom] government\u2019s measures [in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic]and above all, the young, who are little affected by the disease itself, have been made to bear almost all the burden, in the form of blighted educational opportunities and employment prospects whose effects will last for years<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In light of the above statement, this essay will analyze how the young people in Cyprus have been particularly affected by the pandemic in the spheres of education and employment. Additionally, possible solutions of the higher education system of Cyprus will be addressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Young Students<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, many universities have moved online and some students do not find online lectures as beneficial as face-to-face teaching and learning. Lecture contributions in class have been affected, since the online class is not as \u201calive\u201d as the face-to-face mode of delivery and the classroom became the screen of an electronic device. Additionally, online exams, even though they are open-book, are marked more strictly and as a result, students can have worse exam performance. These novel challenges in the education require more efforts and preparation from the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schools and universities, which were forced by the government measures to switch to remote operation, were generally not ready for this “new normality”. Not all teachers were able to quickly adjust the learning process “remotely”, to build lessons and lectures so as to keep the attention of students and move to a more flexible teaching process. Moreover, not all teachers were able to quickly adapt to new learning technologies on online platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, many students have altered their undergraduate or postgraduate plans of studying abroad and decided to proceed to studying in the universities of the island. Many top universities have not created online degrees, so international students could not benefit from an online degree or they failed to improve affordability in terms of fees. On most occasions, the online degree frequently costs more than their in \u2013 person counterparts and may not produce a positive result in return, because of the difficulties with online education mentioned above. Additionally, some students decided to move their studies back to Cyprus, because of the closure of borders between countries and the announcements of lockdowns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Students face technical issues, which can compromise their educational experience, for example, an absence of electronic devices. Cyprus banks and philanthropists though provide children in need with electronic devices (6 thousand electronic tablets have already been received, according to the official website of Bank of Cyprus actively supporting Education Ministry’s online learning drive – Bank of Cyprus Group<\/a>), and telecommunications operators grant free Internet access to provide distance learning. The Ministry of Education and Science has collected data on all schools in Cyprus to identify the needs of students. The mentioned steps can significantly contribute to supporting and assisting education which will greatly improve students\u2019 access to distance learning. However, university students in financial need may not have a device through which they can participate in classes and this fact should be taken into consideration by the government in order to achieve equality among all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n