Page 4 - FP CHRONICLE ISSUE 16 March 2021

YES or NO

e all know that the Corona virus has led to the closure of thousands of
Wschools, universities and most institutions and complexes around the world.

For this reason, many institutions, especially educational institutions in the Arab

countries, mainly the Sultanate of Oman have resorted to remote studying. Face

to face studying could have resulted in aggravation of the corona virus. However,
distance education came with its own problems. There were and still is some of

pressures and problems that an Omani student faces online. Firstly, the difficulty

of connecting to the Internet and home internet services are not always good. In
Oman, we all know that the necessary infrastructure to support the massive use

of the Internet is not available in all regions of the Sultanate, and this in itself is

a big problem. Second, many students lack the means of communication such as
phones, laptops and home computers. They also lack the soft skills to help them

deal with them. Another important problem is the social isolation that online

education may cause and its psychological consequences. Many young adults feel
forgotten and lonely.

With all the above said we shouldn’t forget that every problem has a solution. In
my opinion, I think if the government offered home internet services for free, the

education would be easy. I also believe that if computers are provided then the

connection will be better and more convenient. In addition, if online education

becomes accompanied by some social activities online, it will help reduce the
problem of social isolation. In conclusion, I believe that distance education helped

in keeping the students connected to their studies which, although very tough

allowed us to keep on improving.
Ghada Salim Abdulaziz Aldaakari- FP

3 FP Chronicle Issue 16, Mar 2021