An Assessment of the Living Conditions of School Teachers during the Covid-19 Lockdown in Nigeria

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak in parts of the world has not only created gaps for students in learning but also widened the survival gaps for school teachers who depend largely on their income. This study assessed the living conditions of private school teachers during the pandemic lockdown in Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire for respondents across major cities. The study employed descriptive statistics in examining remuneration received before and during the lockdown, sources of survival for respondents without salaries, feeding pattern and access to stimulus packages/palliatives during the lockdown. A snowball sampling technique was used in recruiting 1,144 respondents for the study. As part of the findings of the study, the mean age of respondents was 33.6 with majority being single. Over 60% of the respondents were not paid salaries during the lockdown leading a higher reliance on family support during the pandemic lockdown. There were changes in the number of meals consumed per day, from 66% with 3 meals before the lockdown to 41% shifting to 1 meal a day during the lockdown. It was also gathered that stimulus packages in form of palliatives were not accessed by 74% of the respondents. Although, there was no significant relationship between gender and the palliatives received with p-value at 0.080, majority of the palliative received were from individual sources rather than the government. The study findings suggests that the present conditions tend to discourage teachers already in private schools and would likely affect the decisions of prospective teachers in the future.