Did the Covid-19 Pandemic Affect the Junior Primary Learners’ Fine Motor Skills? A Literature Review

Abstract

This study aims at providing information on how the Covid-19 pandemic affect the fine motor skills of learners in the Junior Primary Phase to deduce ways to prevent learners' fine motor skills from diminishing.This study uses a literature review method using a comprehensive strategy of searching for articles in various research journal databases. The databases used are PubMed, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) and Directory of Open Access Journals. The key words used in the search were Covid-19, Primary School Learners, Fine Motor Skills and Hand Writing. 15 articles were obtained from the searched databases and only five were analysed due to their relevance to this paper's title. The articles were analysed using the following headings, author (s) and year of publication, title of the research, place or country of publication, name of database, sample and study design and results. The results of this study confirm that the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in a decrease in fine motor skills due to children being scarfolded by inexperienced beings in terms of how to grasp a pen and how to position a book or paper whilst writing. Parents or guardians should also play their role in ensuring that their children grasp the fine motor skills and the Ministry of Education in Namibia should impose strict measures to regulate the Covid-19 pandemic while learners in the Junior Primary Phase attend face to face learning without alternating to get the hands-on fine motor skills from their teachers.