Panel Discussion 1

More than 1.5 billion students and youth across the globe have been affected by school and university closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak according to UNSECO.

We have already been witnessing the immediate impacts of the pandemic on the university higher education sector and on stakeholders, institutions of learning and the educational system as a whole. However, some impacts, may not be immediately visible yet may have significant impact on the medium and long term.

The higher education sector like many other critical sectors had to quickly respond and navigate through the pandemic to ensure business continuity. Today, the sector is in need to play an even bigger role in helping the world get through this crisis; ensuring continuity, quality learning, inequity and that no one is left behind while planning for the future which remains unclear to many. It must learn from its experience and capitalize on the various lessons it has learnt.

Most importantly the sector needs to re-assess its assumptions and the way it used to do things, consider new approaches and models and come together to learn from one another and better collaborate.

The Panel will be of relevance to all those leading and planning the delivery of education no matter where they are located and will focus around:

1. Discussing the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the three core functions of universities and how they have been disrupted in light of the pandemic— teaching, research and community engagement as well as considering aspects related to international collaboration.
2. Sharing highlights around how their institutions have navigated through the pandemic and ensured business continuity.
3. Reflecting on challenges faced and how these were tackled and consider differences that may occur among different regions.
4. Highlighting opportunities and key learnings from the pandemic crisis and how could we leverage on these to shape the future and ensure the agility of our educational ecosystem.
5. Providing key actionable recommendations for higher education institutions, governance as well as regulatory bodies to navigate through the crisis and address the future.