South African Universities Have Taken to Online Teaching: But It Can’t Be Permanent
The uptake of educational technology in South Africa’s higher education sector has been highly uneven and very slow. Before the pandemic, most courses offered in South African universities had some form of Learning Management System presence.
Students could access course guides and readings, upload their assignments, and possibly communicate with their lecturer and peers via forums. But beyond that, many academics seemed to resist making use of the technology, even though it could allow for greater engagement and interactive learning.
Simbi Phiri
Our major milestone was designing the townships across Johannesburg at the time. We also formalised the informal settlements like Diepsloot, Mabopane, Tembisa and other areas all over Johannesburg. A lot of these areas lacked proper sewers, water systems, electricity and roads before we came along. We gave them the structure they needed and formalised them as official townships. All this planning and work was done in the 1990s when people were scared to go to the townships. We related with the people in the townships because we didn’t look down on them and that left a good impression on the people. Some people wondered how we made any money working in the townships but they have no idea how much work was put into the infrastructure. Our work helped give the local people that were living in informal settlements a semblance of dignity.
We have seen people improve their lives and move up in life from some of those townships thanks to the infrastructure we put up. Despite the problems and complaints that arise in South Africa, we must all admit that vast improvements have been made since the 1990s. The townships have better schools and sanitation with most of the improvements done by us. We also built electricity infrastructure and have ensured that people have access to water even within the small shacks. It is quite fulfilling to drive around Johannesburg and say we built that structure and that other structure.
How Africa Can Seize the Moment and Start Resetting Its Relationship With the IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will inject $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights into the global economy. It will allocate them among its member states, which can then decide for themselves how they want to use their Special Drawing Rights.
This injection, which will take place on 23 August 2021, is more than double the total number of Special Drawing Rights the IMF has ever issued and is equal to about 5% of total global reserves.
The IMF will allocate the Special Drawing Rights among its member states based on their quotas, which are determined by the size of a country’s economy and its role in the global economy. Therefore, about 60% of these funds will go to rich countries that do not need them. African countries will receive $33.6 billion, with the lion’s share going to the five largest economies on the continent – South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt.
Resilience Gives students An Edge In Rural African Universities
Students in rural African universities typically experience several challenges to do with poor infrastructure and a poor education foundation.
As a way to deal with learning challenges, some scholars have suggested decolonisation of the curriculum. This implies replacing colonial content and practices with indigenous ones.
Other scholars have suggested that other factors should be considered as part of the solution. Some of these factors include personal, family based, social, and institutional factors.
