By Tawana Kupe and Gerald Wangenge-Ouma
The Covid-19 pandemic is cause for pause. We have to make sense of its impact. We have to seize the moment to be innovative, proactive and adapt for a post-Covid world.
Higher education has to rethink what its future would look like, and take steps towards this.
If they are to survive and thrive, universities must adapt their strategies.
Covid-19 has many negative implications for higher education. These include the disruption of programmes and research, financial challenges, and the health and well-being of staff and students. Graduates also face a constrained labour market due to the poorly performing economy.
The migration by universities to emergency remote learning has sharpened the socio-economic fault lines in higher education and society. This is mainly due to varying institutional resources and students’ socio-economic circumstances.
Notwithstanding the challenges, the pandemic has highlighted the need for a hybrid or blended education. The idea is to optimise multiple delivery modes and embrace creativity and innovation in teaching and learning. Covid is thus an opportunity to develop and embrace online education.
The financial outlook of universities has been generally negative. State funding hasn’t matched the increasing costs and the rising student numbers.
The challenge has been worsened in three main ways. First, by a plummeting economy. Second, by reduced allocations in the 2020 special adjustment budget. Third, by unplanned expenses in response to Covid-19.
Universities must contend with changes to traditional revenue sources. They must also navigate fragmented funding streams and weather economic fluctuations. Its priority has to be the emergence of a university system that’s appropriately funded to engender excellence, affordability, equitable access and sustainability.
The pandemic has silver linings. It can serve as a springboard for rethinking the future. It can also help spur the strengthening of the pact between universities, the state, business, society and communities.
Many universities are involved in Covid-19 research. The research presents universities with an opportunity to restore and strengthen trust in their research capabilities and expertise. It can also help universities mobilise research funding. By pursuing research that can make an impact on areas of great societal need, universities can also demonstrate that they’re interconnected with society.
The pandemic behoves universities to reimagine new teaching and learning possibilities. It calls for universities to re-examine the way they do research and pursue collaborations. It calls for the sector to re-examine how it works. Higher education must re-define its rigid bureaucracies.
Universities must also pursue bold responses to enhance their sustainability, relevance and contribution to the country’s socio-economic advancement. Effective institutional leadership is critical for realising the envisaged future-oriented university system.
Tawana Kupe is vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Pretoria; Gerald Wangenge-Ouma is director of institutional planning, University of Pretoria.
This piece first appeared in The Conversation.
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