Sustainable Crises Management in Education During COVID-19

COVID-19 has been a global disruptor. In many cases due to uncertainty and limited information, the pandemic has created chaos across business and private activity; education is no exception. The reality of the limited flexibility of existing systems of teaching was immediately acknowledged by the closure of physical facilities and the subsequent migration to online teaching. However, in spite of technologies to enable remote participation, it has become apparent that the capacity for learning in an autonomous environment is not homogeneous. From this perspective the pandemic created an opportunity to assess education infrastructure in real time as part of on-going crisis management. This paper explores aspects of crisis management in education as precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia and relates the mitigation and adaptation policies subsequently adopted to a holistic sustainability agenda for education. The research method employed in this study consists of semi structured interviews with the management team members from eight educational institutions. The interviews focus on the crisis management strategies and approaches implemented in their schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion concludes with a connection between crisis management and educational sustainability and sets an agenda for future research.