Early Childhood School Leaders Knowledge, Attitude, Practices Schools Reopening Amidst Covid-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously disrupted the educational process in every educational institution worldwide. Like many other countries, Pakistan has had to close schools and educational facilities twice over the past year to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To determine early childhood school leader’s knowledge, attitude, practices schools reopening amidst Covid-19. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted to examine Early Childhood School leaders' knowledge and practices related to COVID-19. The data were collected as part of an online survey of 154 school leaders from Karachi's Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector. Results: The knowledge constructs' overall mean score (right answers) was 6.8 with 1.3 standard deviations. Many respondents had misconceptions regarding the covid-19 virus's characteristics; only 70% of them are aware that the virus is not airborne. According to about 65% of the answers, the covid19 virus is not surface carried.  On the other hand, more than 90% of the respondents stated that the covid-19 virus spreads through respiratory droplets; consequently, an overwhelming majority (95%) expressed their concern about the transmission of covid19 in school. Nearly 3 out of 4 responders thought the school should continue to be closed. Conclusions: The study concludes that some proper training for school leaders regarding knowledge and practices of Covid-19 would help prepare them for safe school reopening. In addition, the majority of the school leaders showed a positive attitude towards school reopening amidst Covid-19.