Compared to the Western World , COVID 19 has disrupted the African higher education institutions hugely. The transition from the face-to-face instructions to online learning or blended teaching has not been easy in Africa at all. African Universities needed highly trained manpower, uninterrupted Internet access, modern management systems, latest strategic plans, flexible curriculum, and quality assurance systems to grapple with the gruesome and unexpected effects of COVID -19. Fear has pervaded our campuses. In many African Universities, even the elderly Professors do not have access to vaccines yet. Should African higher education institutions re-design strategic plans in response to COVID 19?
Good morning,
Actually, what you have said is completely true. The universities' infrastructure as well as management and staff weren't prepared for a such sudden change. You can say that we have two major problems (in addition to minors also, but i will mention the major ones): the weakness of the universities' infrastructure including the E-learning platforms & the non- skilled management/staff and the idea of "Resistance to change". After the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes a "must" to change and there is no choice. The blended education system is applied to "make balance" as our universities weren't prepared to provide a complete online education system. Of course the universities has to modify their strategic plans not only temporarily to cope with this pandemic but also to cope with global change that occured in thinking and in peoples' minds and lives.
Haileleul, you have raised an important question for discussion. I think the COVID-19 pandemic has caught all sectors, including the HE sector, by surprise. As a result, the lack of preparedness has manifested itself in the sometimes chaotic, partly reactionary and sometimes ad-hoc ways in which institutions of state and organisations have sought to deal with the digitalisation, educational, welfare, developmental and other challenges caused in the wake of the pandemic. To this end, I think that African HE institutions should try and recalibrate their structural, procedural, processual and systemic architectures in order to address the problems more strategically. Interesting...
@John Mendy, thank you for understanding our HE context vividly.