Campus-based higher education will not resume

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, said South Africa has entered into uncharted territory.
“Like all the other sectors in our society, we have been forced to take immediate and drastic measures to contain the spread of the virus and ensure our students and staff are protected,” said Nzimande.
Nzimande addressed the media at the briefing on Thursday where he highlighted the plans for the higher education sector as the country prepared to enter Level 4 lockdown on May 1.
All post-school educational institutions were put on early recess from March 15.
During this time the ministry effectively suspended academic activity.
At the briefing last week the minister sought to identify measures to save the academic year for higher education students in South Africa.
Nzimande said efforts to save the academic year must avoid worsening the infection curve of the coronavirus.
“We will be implementing a risk adjusted strategy for the entire Post School Education and Training (PSET) sector based on the national Covid-19 protocols.
“Guided by the work and decisions of the National Command Council, we have decided not to resume with campus-based academic activity throughout the PSET sector, including all Universities and TVET Colleges, both public and private, during the lockdown period,” the minister said.
The only exception to this will be the controlled return of final year clinical training (medical) students, under strict conditions, to also directly assist with the health management campaign of the Department of Health.
He added that the risks of a return to normal campus-based activity for thousands of students and staff are too great.
Instead at Level 4, a number of critical interventions will be put in place across the PSET system.
This includes:
• Development and implementation of multi-modal remote learning systems to provide a reasonable level of academic support to all students at all institutions to resume academic learning and teaching support.
• Securing a universal access deal with the major mobile network operators around data and connectivity to support remote learning.
• Finalising the procurement and distribution of devices (laptops) for all students and its connectivity into digital remote learning platforms.
• Strengthening remote teaching and learning models and sharing this across the TVET and University systems.
• Securing possible relief funding for public institutions in distress, including critical areas of financial support that may be required.
• Preparing all PSET campuses with deep cleaning and biosafety protocols to ensure readiness for eventual return of students and staff.