believe academics and education stakeholders should also be aware that e-learning for
university modules may not offer much automation compared to the traditional brick
and mortar classroom model of lecturing (delivery).
We, however, have no choice but to embrace the inevitable change brought about not
only by the 4th industrial revolution but also by Covid-19. As more universities
worldwide gravitate towards or adopt e-learning models, the central theme should be
around vital quality assurance processes to ensure nothing is left to chance during this
transformation period. Therefore, the online automation process of evaluation should
be attained with significant efficiency at all times.
The current trend shall definitely lead to a wholesale cultural shift. It is thus imperative to
note that it is unlikely that post Covid-19 all shall return to our usual way of doing
business. To the whole world this is thus a wakeup call, a missed call for that matter, as
the real call is yet to be made. University leaders and IT experts should, therefore, roll up
their sleeves and meet the challenges head on, by devising and inventing new but
reliable E-Systems able to keep academic communication lines open and uninterrupted.
We in Africa should not wait for the Messiah to come from elsewhere, we should move
with the trend in order to become masters of our own destiny. The education of our
people should not come to a standstill because of the outbreak of the new coronavirus,
instead, it should rather be intensified through various e-learning mechanisms, without
compromising the education standards and | am certain history shall absolve us.
While it is crucial to tackle the current situation with limited resources, it is my wish that
post Covid-19, should witness Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Regional educational institutions implement a SADC Protocol on education and training
to the letter, by forging linkages with the view to create genuine and equitable regional
integration. SADC Protocol on education and training’s objective is in fact the foundation
of integration because the much-needed resources and input are shared amongst SADC
states particularly with respect to education.
Post Covid-19, globally education and training shall never be the same again. There shall
be a paradigm shift in curriculum development and pedagogically delivery mode. Since
education will be strictly based on science, technology and engineering. Huge resources
shall need to be mobilised and marshalled in order to mitigate the effects of the post
Covid-19 on education and training. Gone are the days when governments, the private
sector and multi-national organisations paid lip service to the needs of the peoples of
the African continent. Now is the time, more than ever, for all stakeholders to put their
hands together to find global solutions to these new challenges. Just as was the case in
the Spanish Flu of 1918, the outbreak of the new corona virus should serve as a case
study to remind all of us that the world is a global village i.e. an injury to one is indeed an
injury to all.
It should equally be noted that such an outbreak brings tension and apprehension and
the new coronavirus is not an exception. It is my conviction that the new e-learning
pedagogical approach will definitely help education institutions to defeat the negative
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