Navigating the aftermath of the pandemic: exploring school challenges and changes in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education systems worldwide, and as we navigate the post-pandemic period, schools have been predicted to face diverse challenges. Specially, private schools in rural areas of developing countries often operate on small budgets and rely heavily on student fees to sustain their operations. Their challenges are supposed to be bigger. This study aimed to explore the subjective experiences of 14 entrepreneurs-cum-principals (ECPs) from 14 private kindergarten schools in rural Bangladesh, in terms of the post-pandemic school challenges they faced and strategies to overcome them. The study utilised a qualitative approach employing phenomenological inquiry within an interpretivist paradigm. Data were collected through participant observation notes, school documents, and semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed following Auerbach and Silverstein’s coding methods, resulting in themes emerging regarding the challenges the ECPs faced and the strategies they adopted to overcome them. The findings are discussed, and recommendations are made.

KEYWORDS:

• Post-pandemic
• school leadership
• Bangladesh
• entrepreneur-cum-principal
• COVID-19
• school

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data may be made available upon request to the corresponding author.