review · Journal of Education and Educational Development
The global closure of higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted teaching, research, and community service. These closures interrupted academic calendars, displaced students, and depleted institutional revenues and human resources, threatening long-term sustainability. Universities responded by deploying information and communication technologies for remote learning. However, institutions encountered major hurdles, including unreliable internet connectivity, inadequate infrastructure, inequitable access, unprepared staff and students, and difficulties in conducting assessments and practical coursework. These disruptions highlighted substantial inequalities across learners, institutions, and countries. The sector is anticipated to transition towards widespread blended academic delivery, enhanced capacity building for online pedagogy, and quality assurance frameworks integrating learning outcomes with human needs. Future institutional sustainability will also rely on entrepreneurial models, disaster planning, and institutional mergers.
Understanding the systemic impacts of global crises helps university administrators and policymakers design resilient educational models. By identifying deficits in digital infrastructure, instructional quality, and equitable access, educational planners can develop better blended learning programmes and disaster response strategies to protect academic operations from future disruptions.
This research provides strategic insights for university leadership, educational policymakers, and instructional design developers. Potential applications include structured online pedagogy training programmes, holistic quality assurance tools, and strategic disaster continuity frameworks. As this is a conceptual desktop review of literature, the insights represent early-stage planning concepts rather than tested products or services ready for immediate deployment.
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COVID-19 virus pandemic resulted to abrupt closure of higher education institutions globally as a strategy to manage its spread. This has extensively impacted on the core functions of higher education which include teaching, research and community service. Through a desktop review of relevant literature, the study explored the impacts, mitigation measures adopted, emerging challenges and the future of higher education in the context of COVID-19. The pandemic disrupted the academic calendar, research activities, displaced students, and there has been loss in revenue streams and human resources. It is likely to affect sustainability of local and international higher education. Higher education institutions responded by leveraging the use Information Communication technology (ICT) to minimize disruptions. Challenges experienced include unreliable internet connectivity and ICT infrastructure, equity in access to remote teaching and learning, staff and students’ readiness, assessment of learning, resource constraints, delivery of field and practical courses and quality assurance in emergency remote teaching and learning. The impacts, responses and challenges have been manifested with gaps and inequalities between learners, institutions and countries. The study envisions widescale uptake of blended delivery of academic programmes, capacity building for staff and students on online pedagogy and a holistic quality assurance framework that infuses achievement of desired learning outcomes with Maslow Hierarchy of needs. Greater emphasis will be placed on the entrepreneurial university, institutional mergers and strategic planning for disasters.
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DOI: 10.22555/joeed.v8i1.183
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