The Covid pandemic has reminded institutions of higher learning to revisit their curricula with a view to engage with deep programme reform in order to remain relevant, says professor Ahmed Shaikh, MD of Regent Business School.
Professor Shaikh said educators find themselves in a changing world wherein the rate of change, uncertainty and flux is without precedent. He said higher education was already facing deep challenges before the pandemic, largely because of the impact of exponential and disruptive technologies, and those challenges have been compounded by the lasting impacts of a global pandemic.
“Work and life balance together with much higher workloads appeared to be a major challenge, and while a range of previously under-utilised technology enablers were introduced into the Teaching and Learning environment, a key success factor in the T&L process had been lost – the human interaction. Hoosen Essof, the redHUB and operations manager at Regent Business School, drew close attention to the traits required for the future world of work and the tension between realistic expectations of students and what can be achieved through the curriculum.
Students who attended the event highlighted the disparity between their backgrounds and levels of preparedness for the remote teaching environment.