The challenges of online learning during the COVID-19 pandamic: A case study on the performance of basic education students

The outbreak caused by COVID-19 has managed to imbalance most of the social sectors in the world. Among these sectors, education is the only sector that is fully transferred to an online system in most nations. So far, online learning or e-learning has particularly been the ideal solution for the continuing educational journey during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The current paper mainly aims to identify the obstacles and challenges faced by English as Foreign Language (EFL) students in the basic education department in Iraq, during the transformation into an online system due to the COVID-19 spread. The contribution of this paper is seen in the highlighting and evaluation of EFL students' perceptions regarding e-learning applications during the pandemic in terms of frequency and access. Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic, EFL students, Online learning, Online learning challenges.