EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION - A CASE OF GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY (GZU)

Abstract

This study explored the effects of COVID-19 on higher and tertiary education in Zimbabwe. The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic (SARS-COV-2) in December 2019 disrupted traditional forms of teaching and learning centred on face-to-face and in-class instruction. Governments enforced social distancing measures characterised by stay-at-home strategies and the closure of schools and other learning facilities. This study discusses the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on higher and tertiary education in Zimbabwe, especially the varied approaches and its pedagogical future. The study explores the challenges and innovations brought out by the pandemic in relation to provision of higher learning at Great Zimbabwe University. The challenges of access to the internet for both lecturers and students, lack of essential learning gadgets such as laptops and smartphones for both students and lecturers, the capacity of the university to keep its learning sites working flawless, the challenges of non-submission and or late submission of assignments by students resulting to the aforementioned challenges and other challenges will be under scope in this study. The study also consider innovations that the university did amidst the pandemic that promoted higher learning. These various interactive forces transformed learning at Great Zimbabwe University. This study is thus an interpretive assessment of the various changes that took place in higher learning institutions. Article visualizations: