In December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic started. 3 months later, with a rapidly increasing death toll, the world went into lockdown.
Governments introduced travel restrictions, curfews and social distancing. Classrooms closed within the space of a few days. The majority of students were sent home with one key question remaining unanswerable at present: “How will students continue to receive an education when they are not physically present at school?”
In a study commissioned by the University and College Union to assess the financial impact of the pandemic on UK universities, the loss of tuition fee and teaching grant income across was estimated to be £2.47bn. Combining the effect of the economic downturn with the deferral rate due to uncertainty caused by the pandemic, 232,000 fewer students will enrol in higher education for the 2020/21 intake, representing a 24% drop on 2018/19 figures.
There are 5 key issues facing students and faculty in the global higher education sector:
- Implementing measures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus
- Ensuring the health and safety of all current students and staff
- Providing continuity of education and teaching for existing students
- Mitigating the impact of financial loss on current students and staff
- Developing an operational plan that supports a ‘return to campus’
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is vast and impersonal when we talk about economic loss at a national scale. However, it is the analysis of individual use cases of students that becomes highly personal and distressing – for example, international students unable to return home, students that have lost their jobs and are unable to afford to continue, and importantly students from low-income households that do not have proper computer access. It is distressing to see colleagues out of work or on-hold because the funding has dried up.
We know that the furlough scheme continued until October 2021 in the UK, but beyond that, the state of research funding outside of life sciences and technology remains highly uncertain. It’s not just students and faculty waiting for a ray of hope, but the hundreds of thousands of staff employed directly or indirectly by the sector that support them day-to-day.
These key issues are not unique to universities in the UK; they may indeed apply to colleges, schools, academies and adult learning centres around the world. What we do know is that, as of when this article was written (May 2021), physical campuses and classrooms are still closed and will likely remain that way until clear guidance on what socially-distanced learning looks like in practice.
Despite restrictions being eased in line with falls in the infection rate, it is unlikely that we will see a return to ‘normal’ classroom conditions before the start of the next academic year. We will continue to see every school around the world to continue wading deeper into the world of e-learning; whether or not it is implemented successfully is indeed a new challenge which we will explore.
Don’t forget to listen to the LSDM Leaders Programme podcast for more in-depth analysis into how the pandemic is affecting our ‘return to normal’ in the world of Design and Marketing.
