In the wake of the worldwide pandemic caused by the COVID-19, UNESCO conducted a survey from December 15, 2020, to February 12, 2021, entitled: COVID-19: Reopening and Reimagining Universities. This survey was addresses to the 193 UNESCO Member States and its 11 Associates Members and aimed at providing an evidence-based overview of the current situation of the higher education system at national and global levels. Sixty-five countries submitted responses, 57 of which were found valid and used for the following analysis. It is to be noted that almost half of the responses received came from high income countries and the Europe and North American region.
The survey attempts to assess the varying impact the pandemic had on higher education systems in terms of access, equity and quality of teaching and learning, university operation, national challenges, emerging issues, and strategic responses. The results of this worldwide survey show how some countries were able to transform challenges, brought by the rapid digitalization of education, into opportunities through strong government support and international cooperation.
Inscription ouverte – The event following the survey aims at disseminating the results of the survey allowing by the same to spark a global conversation on the state of higher education worldwide and the impact COVID-19 has had, from different stakeholders’ point of view.
The webinar will present the survey results regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the higher education system at the national and global levels in terms of access to education, equity and quality of teaching and learning, university operations, national challenges, emerging issues and strategic responses and provide a venue for stakeholders working in higher education to share practices, ideas and resources about country responses to the global health crisis. Each country representative will be asked to focus on one of these key areas that is most relevant for their country and the impact COVID-19 has had on their higher education system.
Expected outcomes
- The participants will be exposed to the key issues that the survey revealed, including some of the UNESCO Member States’ responses to the COVID-19 and the impact it had on the respective higher education systems, as well as some disparities between the different countries.
- The participants will be provided with feedback from Higher Education institutions and students themselves on how they lived the pandemic.
- The survey results and the feedback from this event will then be used to set the foundation for policy recommendation for respective countries as well as for a future survey to compare the evolution of higher education systems through the pandemic and into a post-Covid-19 world.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION >> Check the Concept note and provisional programme
The Report will be available soon.
onte: UNESCO.org