COVID-19-INDUCED ONLINE EDUCATION AND THE RESILIENCE OF DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION.

Banda, Tiffany V.

The impact of 2019-2020 Covid-19 pandemic saw the disruption of businesses and services including education. The shutting down of conventional face-to-face teaching and learning ushered in a new dawn of online education. While not an entirely new phenomenon and one being championed in within the neoliberal globalisation discourse, this article examined the impact of this change. The explored how the Covid-induced online education impacted the resilience of disadvantaged students in the African context. Using Sen's capability approach and the salutogenesis theory of resilience, the paper focused on how online education as an alternative capability to traditional face-to-face affected the resilience of disadvantaged students in achieving the functioning of meaningful learning. The conceptual paper analysed the resilience of disadvantaged university students and how Covid-induced online education affected them. The findings revealed that Covid-induced online education, further amplified pre-existing inequalities. Individuals from privileged backgrounds had greater access to the necessary resources and commodities that enabled them to effectively engage in online learning. Despite online education being considered a capability, the actual implementation of this capability in the form of meaningful learning was hindered by factors that negatively influenced the conversion process. Recommendations include the acknowledgement of the role of digital technology as an enabler to the realisation of the right to education and a call on governments and institutions to incorporate it into policy and practice.

COVID-19 pandemic; CAPABILITIES approach (Social sciences); ALTERNATIVE education; CLINICAL health psychology; RIGHT to education; ONLINE education; BLENDED learning

Journal of Educational Studies, 2024, p201

1680-7456

Academic Journal

10.59915/jes.2024.si2.11