Academic Uncertainty in the Crisis of COVID-19 Outbreak in Thailand

Academic Uncertainty in the Crisis of COVID-19 Outbreak

Cite this article as: Arunrangsiwed, P. (2020). Academic Uncertainty in the Crisis of COVID-19 Outbreak in Thailand. Retrieved from https://sw-eden.net/2020/04/08/academic-uncertainty-covid-19-outbreak

In this semester, we all face the COVID-19 crisis and that put everyone in the stage of uncertainty. Uncertainty is caused by lack of information and secureness. The government and news reporters announce the process to save ourselves from the virus, but the information that we could not obtain is “the sequences of the announcement” which this time, it is poorly arranged. The government got very poor public relation practitioners or all of them might be very poor at it. They confused everybody especially people who are working in educational institutes.

What is it like when I am a teacher in the COVID-19 crisis?

The government got a new announcement, new rules, or new laws, then the university need to interpret them to fit into the university context. I am a teacher and I have to keep reading both of them. This is because I have to tell all my students what to do. I have to rearrange the lessons or course syllabus every single day that they got the new announcement.

First, they asked us to finish all courses within early April 2020. Then, they changed. They told us that we were allowed to be in the school area until the end of March 2020. Then, again, they told us that they would temporarily close the school for 3 days in March. Finally, they closed all schools in Thailand at the middle of March. Every time that they got a new announcement, I had to create new course syllabus and sent to all students. They confused me, and I confused all students. That is how the government ruins the life of both teachers and students.

We could not plan anything. For other occupations, many people are suddenly unemployed. What I hope that the government should have done is to announce their rules or laws systematically. They may create the calendar, so people could manage their life so well. They may get a reason for me or someone like me that they could plan anything initially because they got the officers with poor public relations and statistic skills. They may have to look at the number of infected people each day to make each decision and come out with each rule.