| Botswana |
The University of Botswana entered an agreement with one network provider (Botswana Telecommunications Corporation) to provide 1 GB every day to students. The Ministry of Education provided PPE for the students.
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| Cameroon |
Provision of water points with soap for hand washing among institutions. Display of COVID-19 sensitization materials around medical and pharmacy school campuses. Provision of hand sanitisers and face masks for attendance in lectures.
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| Eswatini |
Capacitation of teaching staff was provided by the university through training on the use of selected online teaching and learning platforms. Training on preventive measures against COVID-19 was provided to safeguard staff and students during blended learning sessions once lockdown measures were eased. Staff were provided with face masks and face shields to enhance their face-to-face teaching. The university made arrangements to provide psychosocial, moral, and spiritual support to students and staff affected by the pandemic. Telecommunication companies including MTN Eswatini, Eswatini Mobile, and Eswatini Post and Telecommunication (EPTC) provided subsidies on data bundle packages to assist students and staff with Internet costs.
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| Ghana |
Enhancement of existing university electronic media into a learning management system that enhanced lecturer and student interaction. Introduction of teaching and student online assessments and re-assessments. Students who performed poorly during their assessments were given a remedial assignment to make up for the negative effect of switching to virtual learning.
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| Kenya |
Provision of Internet bundles to students and staff, as well as subscription by the University of Nairobi to online teaching platforms. Formation of COVID-19 committees that were tasked with carrying out research to inform practice as well as education of staff and students about the pandemic. Capacity building of the university ICT department to provide adequate support services and training for online teaching during the pandemic. Conducting online graduation ceremonies for students who completed their studies. Counselling services provided to students and staff to reduce COVID-19 related anxiety. Partnerships with corporate organisations for raising funds to provide PPE for students and staff, as well as donations of PPE to staff and students. Building more hand-washing stations in the universities as well as provision of clean water and soap to all staff and students to reduce the spread of the virus.
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| Malawi |
Out of the many strategies, the blended learning strategy has been widely used, as it allows those that are in quarantine to be able to teach and learn. Blending of the use of the COMPASS platform with other platforms such as Zoom®, Google Classroom, and WhatsApp®. Blended learning helps with issues of crowding in classes, as all big classes are being taught using the system, as well as helping those students that failed to attend online learning sessions to cover missed sections and improve their understanding of the various concepts. Conducting blended graduation and thesis defence with online and face-to-face meetings. Only students with first class/distinction went for physical graduation, while the rest graduated online. Introduction of hand sanitiser production facility in the Pharmacy department with the aim of providing quality hand sanitisers to the staff and students of the College and University. Provision of ICT equipment (computers and tablet) to students to help them access online platforms. Initiatives with Internet service providers that changed the providers from purely a private entity status to a consortium managed by institutions of higher learning in Malawi. This resulted in doubling of Internet bandwidth to improve connectivity to both the staff and students.
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| Namibia |
The University of Namibia, through its Centre for Online, Distance and e-Learning (CODeL), capacitated academics and students to engage in online learning, teaching, and assessments. The university provided various remedial opportunities for teaching and assessments for students whose learning was adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Higher Education established a fund to enhance research on COVID-19 as well as purchase ICT devices for underprivileged students. A flexible working schedule was permitted by the university, including the use of various teaching methods and online platforms. Together with other stakeholders, the University of Namibia also provided free Internet dongles to students and heavily subsidised Internet dongles among staff members to address perceived challenges. Some electronic books were made available free of charge to students by the university library.
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| Nigeria |
Listening/viewing hubs were created in some institutions to enable students who could not afford Internet subscriptions to gather for lectures within the campuses. Some sub-national governments were able to provide additional financial resources and infrastructure to aid online learning among tertiary institutions. Sharing of ideas and innovative approaches to learning in the pandemic era and working towards bridging the learning inequality gaps through professional bodies and societies. Some institutions supported their academic staff financially to sustain online teaching, with some universities also providing free Wi-Fi for lecturers’ online academic activities.
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| South Africa |
Concerns with the readiness of staff and students to use online teaching platforms was addressed through several workshops for both students (as end-users) and teaching staff for implementation of alternative pedagogies. It was recognised that the development of online material needed to consider the various learning styles of the different students, including differences that may be present among ethnically diverse student bodies. Continuous webinar distribution of lectures alongside educational units helping to offer expedited training—however, this did create a sense of overload/not doing enough/failing to attend everything among some students. Videoconferencing software offered the ability to divide students among different “breakout rooms” for team-based learning. Online discussion boards stimulated discourse on individual topics but were less well-suited for complex topics such as patient case discussions. Establishment of counselling services or reinforcing current services to support and strengthen the mental health and well-being of students and staff. Several agreements between universities, the government, and Internet providers for negotiating zero-rated access to specific educational and information websites and data bundles for staff and students to facilitate Internet access. Some universities also obtained a greater GSuite licence to help accommodate a greater integration between Gmail and other GSuite platforms (which was eventually downgraded due to cost).
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| Tanzania |
Online communication is now encouraged in public and private universities whenever possible. Increasing support to help address financial constraints and Internet connectivity among staff and students.
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| Zambia |
COVID-19 prevention policies and statutory provisions were enacted to help reduce the spread of the virus. The universities endeavoured to orient their faculty to re-acquaint them to teaching using online platforms. Negotiations took place with Internet service providers to address concerns. The result was the zero-rated deal with MTN Zambia, a mobile service provider. In this regard, MTN Zambia collaborated with the University of Zambia and Copperbelt and Mulungushi Universities (who are the main public universities offering medical programmes in Zambia) to provide subsidized access to Internet in order to enable students to study from home during the COVID-19 pandemic [116]. However, issues of universal access to Internet services remain relatively inequitable and characterised by low uptake, which needs to be addressed going forward.
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| Zimbabwe |
Establishing free Internet connectivity at the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences for students as well as some teaching hospitals. Continued face-to-face teaching for clinical rotations, mindful of the virus and the implications Rotation of didactic lessons and clinical sessions to enhance learning during the pandemic.
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