COVID-19 and the structural inequalities in South Africa's higher education

Matsilele, Trust; Nkoala, Sisanda

doi:10.4324/9781003264026-20

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Patrick et al (2021) argue that the pandemic brought to bear the (vertical and horizontal) inequalities in policy response and effect on the part of states, governments and students. What makes all this worth considering is that structural challenges within the university and the country tend to promote inequality (Matsilele & Nkoala, 2022).…”

Section: Persistent Digital Inequalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light about journalism education in Zambia: A reflexive analysis of the transition to online teaching and learning

Mambwe

2024

Journal of Digital Educational Technology

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This paper cogitates and reflects on some of the lessons learned about journalism and mass communication education in Zambia following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights specific observations from the experience of teaching journalism, mass communication and media studies courses in the wake of the globally menacing pandemic within the context of a country in the global South with limited resources and a traditional approach to journalism education. The paper combines thoughts from reflexive autoethnography based on professional positionality, buttressed by selected literature on teaching and learning in higher education during the pandemic, and insights from selected journalism educators in the country. The paper uncovers six critical reflection points or lessons pertinent to post-pandemic journalism education. These are: (a) there are still low levels of digital readiness in journalism schools; (b) distance education for journalism and mass communication is not easy but not at all impossible; (c) digital literacy for both faculty members and students in journalism schools must be scaled up; (d) persistent digital inequalities characterise higher education, including journalism education; (e) exceedingly low levels of training in science and health reporting/coverage are still prevalent; and lastly (f), there is need to rethink how student internships and attachment programs can best be conducted in times of crisis. In addition to these observations, the paper argues for a holistic approach to digital transformation to address many of these and other challenges.

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Section: Persistent Digital Inequalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light about journalism education in Zambia: A reflexive analysis of the transition to online teaching and learning

Mambwe

2024

Journal of Digital Educational Technology

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“…Patrick et al, (2021) argues that the pandemic brought to bear the (vertical and horizontal) inequalities in terms of policy response and effect on the part of states, governments and students. What makes all this worth considering is the fact that structural challenges within the university and in country tend to promote inequality (Matsilele & Nkoala, 2022).…”

Section: Persistent Digital Inequalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What the COVID-19 Pandemic has brought to light about Journalism Education in Zambia: Some Reflections on the transition to online teaching and learning

Mambwe

2023

Preprint

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This paper cogitates and reflects on some of the lessons learned about journalism and mass communication education in Zambia following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights specific observations from the experience of teaching of journalism, mass communication and media studies courses in the wake of the globally menacing pandemic, within the context of a country in the global South with limited resources and a traditional approach to journalism education. I put together thoughts from reflexive autoethnography based on my professional positionality, buttressed by selected literature on teaching and learning in higher education during the pandemic, and insights from selected journalism educators in the country. The paper uncovers six points of reflection or lessons, namely: (a) there are still low levels of digital readiness in journalism schools; (b) distance education for journalism and mass communication is not easy but not at all impossible; (c) digital literacy for both faculty members and students in journalism schools must be scaled up; (d) persistent digital inequalities characterise higher education, including in journalism education; (e) exceedingly low levels of training in science and health reporting/coverage are still prevalent; and lastly (f), there is need to rethink how student internships and attachment programmes can be conducted in times of crisis. In addition to these observations, the paper argues for a wholistic approach to digital transformation to address many of these and other challenges.

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“…They greatly concern managers (Mitchell et al, 1997). In the South African context, this scenario has been further challenged by the emergence of the COVID-19 virus, which forced universities to offer programs fully online (Matsilele, 2021). Post-COVID-19, some programmes have remained entirely online while others have a blended design.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Analysis of Stakeholder Engagement in the E-Learning Policy-Making Process at a Higher Education Institution in South Africa

Makwambeni,

Usadolo

2023

AJIMS

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Over the past two decades, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa have been formulating e-learning policies to assist them to realise the full potential of using ICTs in teaching and learning. E-learning policies serve as guiding frameworks that create enabling environments for embedding ICTs in teaching and learning. The development of e-learning policies has attracted various stakeholders and actors with varied interests, views, priorities, influence and power. Consequently, stakeholder engagement is now an essential factor in the policy process. The efficacy of an e-learning policy can therefore be judged based on the multiple perspectives that it includes and the inclusion of those it affects in the policy-making process. In light of this background, this paper examined stakeholder engagement that characterised the e-learning policy formulation process at a University of Technology in South Africa (UoT). How stakeholders were engaged in the policy-making process using stakeholder engagement as its analytical framework, the stakeholders and actors involved in the policy formulation process and the nature of the dialogue that informed the policy formulation process were examined. The qualitative study gathered evidence using semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The study's findings show that the policy-making process at the UoT followed a bureaucratic process dominated by one actor, the policy delegate. Key stakeholders were excluded during the policy formulation process and were only consulted at the drafting stage. As a result, stakeholder engagement in the policy formulation process was low, resulting in key stakeholders and actors lacking policy ownership. Our findings also show that the exclusion of key stakeholders in the policy formulation process resulted in a policy that exclusively focuses on the Learner Management System and overlooks other technologies that play a crucial role in teaching and learning. These findings suggest the need to include all critical stakeholders and actors affected and interested in the e-learning policy at every stage of the policy formulation process.

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COVID-19 and the structural inequalities in South Africa's higher education

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

What the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light about journalism education in Zambia: A reflexive analysis of the transition to online teaching and learning

What the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light about journalism education in Zambia: A reflexive analysis of the transition to online teaching and learning

What the COVID-19 Pandemic has brought to light about Journalism Education in Zambia: Some Reflections on the transition to online teaching and learning

An Analysis of Stakeholder Engagement in the E-Learning Policy-Making Process at a Higher Education Institution in South Africa

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