Two global networks of scholars, namely the and the , have issued a communiqué laying out a series of recommendations to mitigate the harms of COVID-19 and seize on the opportunities to improve higher education systems around the world.
Prof. André Xuereb, Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Malta, was one of the authors of .
He told Newspoint that the discussion about how the current pandemic has affected researchers is important, especially in the context of lost research and student training opportunities, hiring freezes, pay cuts, and many young scholars having to drop out of the workforce. “It needs to be had because all of this is threatening to lead to a lost generation of researchers, unless rapid action is taken”, he said.
In a local context, Prof. Xuereb this applies especially because our university benefits greatly from student and staff mobility to other countries.
“Our university fuels the growth and prosperity of our nation, and for us to maintain our competitiveness, we need to foster connections with universities and companies across Europe and around the world. This is made all the more challenging in the age of COVID-19”.
Other challenges in higher education brought about by the pandemic is the reduction of flexibility and mobility, the interruption of research and career trajectories, the lack of access to fundamental learning resources, the increased complexity of students’ digital and learning needs, and the loss of human interaction from excess digitisation in education delivery. Historically-disadvantaged groups are those whose careers have suffered the most.
The recommendations being made to university administrators and higher education policymakers include:
- The promotion of open education and research collaboration, through new or existing networks to promote collaboration at regional and global levels, and the provision of research grants, positions, mentorship, and other forms of support
- The expansion of digital connectivity and access to hardware, through the prioritisation of expansion of internet access, prioritisation of educational Sustainable Development Goals to expand access to technology, and the prioritisation of quality education that is student-centred
- The incorporation of relevant local expertise, through universities’ reviewing of assessment of students and researchers, and advising policymakers on post-COVID-19 higher education policy reforms.
