Government-imposed power cuts that have been occurring in Sri Lanka – the worst power outages in over 25 years – have seriously affected students and teachers. Sri Lanka made a remarkable transition to online higher education in response to the COVID pandemic, but with ongoing power cuts, online teaching and learning are now severely affected. Sri Lanka’s power crisis has affected students physically and mentally, reports University World News.

Government-imposed power cuts that have been occurring in Sri Lanka since January – the worst power outages in over 25 years – have seriously affected students and teachers at a time when many are relying on online education.

The power cuts are being imposed due to spiralling global oil prices, exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, together with an economic crisis as Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves drop to a record low.

According to an Asian Development Bank report on online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic published in September 2020, Sri Lanka made a remarkable transition to online higher education in response to the pandemic. A survey quoted in the report said 90% of student respondents in Sri Lanka had said they were able to access online university classes.

However, with ongoing power cuts, online teaching and learning are now severely affected. Parents and teachers said the power crisis, coming on top of the pandemic, has affected students physically and mentally.

Since the end of January, Sri Lanka has imposed daily hours-long power cuts on a rolling basis between 8am and 11pm. As the crisis deepened, from the first week of March onwards, seven-hour power outages have occurred almost daily – the longest power cuts experienced in the country in 26 years.

Teachers have had to suspend online classes and universities have delayed exams. ( Full Report University World News)