Gangahagedara, R.Karunarathna, MudithaAthukorala, Wasantha2025-10-252025-10-252020https://ir.lib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/20.500.14444/5732Introduction : The COVID-19 pandemic is recognized as the world’s largest education crisis ever experienced in the recent past. According to UNESCO, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 190 countries had implemented nationwide closures, affecting more than 90% of the world’s student population (Abdulamir and Hafidh, 2020). Interruption in continuous education leads to many repercussions that are beyond mere losses in learning, including increased drop-out rates, loss of nutrition, and reductions in future earnings – the effects of which are disproportionately experienced by the more vulnerable (Liguori and Winkler, 2020). In response to the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic on 12th March 2020, all educational institutions including schools and universities were closed down island-wide in Sri Lanka with an overnight switch to the emergency education mode via distance teaching and learning process. Following the national guidelines, Kandy Educational Zone (KEZ) closed down all schools and other educational centers and turned overnight to emergency learning teaching methods as a measure to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. KEZ comprises two Divisional Secretariat divisions, namely Gangawatakoralaya and Pathahewaheta. Gangawatakorala division consists of 60 schools with a student population of 67,661 (excluding private and international schools). At KEZ, the emergency learning-teaching methods mainly occurred via online channels, with teachers sending large volumes of material as PDF documents to students via WhatsApp and Viber. Few schools initiated standard online education processes using MS-Teams, Google Classroom and Zoom etc. In addition, some teachers conducted Teaching-Learning process through traditional distance Teaching-Learning methods according to the guidelines of the health authorities. Traditional classroom settings at the school, despite many disparities, attempted to bring all the students into a common equitable platform irrespective of their different cultural or socio-economic backgrounds by ensuring the co-values of free Education. According to a survey conducted in 2018 by DCS, only 52% of Sri Lankan households with school-aged children owned a smartphone or computer (laptops 52%, desktop 10%, tabs 3%) which are essential for online learning. Only 40% had an internet connection, primarily via mobile phones (mobile phones and dongles 37%, Fibre/ ADSL/ Wireless 4%). This survey report projected the reality of the availability of computer-related appliances at the household-level in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, only less than half of the households in Sri Lanka have the possibility of engaging in online distance education. (This paper consists of the preliminary findings; as such the full report is yet to be finalized).en-USCOVID-19ELTMStakeholdersEducationKandyArticle