Abstract:
The role of education is vital, not only as an individual right, but also as a key fact in social
and national development. Currently, the lifestyles of people and the behavior of society
completely depend on the COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective of this research is to
identify the impact of COVID-19 on secondary level grade six to nine education in Chilaw
Nasriya Central College. Identifying the economic background of a family; examining the
strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges (SWOC) among secondary students
during the pandemic period; and recommending policies for implementing e-learning in
the future. Data for the research was collected through the primary and secondary data
collection methods. The finding of this study is that, the strength of an interest can be seen
in continued school attendance after reopening school (4.78). Weaknesses as challenges are
present in facing the (term) examination (4.40) after the school reopens. An opportunity to
revise their previous lessons. Challenges: the highest mean value among other factors
(4.93), students faced subject-related difficulties during access to the online education
method. Students failed to obtain better clarification on subjects. Furthermore, 71.5% of
students’ families lost their jobs and faced economic challenges during the lockdown and
curfew period. Further analyses the relationship between SWOC factors (internal-external
and cross association) through the chi-squared test. This study's recommendation
introduces smart class rooms to every grade, allows students to aggregate knowledge
related to online learning methods, provides adequate knowledge of accessing electronic
devices for educational purposes, and distributes electronic devices for educational
purposes.
