Shaping the Future: North African Universities After COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted in one way or another all sectors of activity, rapidly moving from a sanitary crisis to become a socio-economic one. Higher education has been particularly affected, due to social distancing imperatives and the need to develop alternate ways of delivery relying on technology and distance learning. When the pandemic hit, it highlighted the digital unpreparedness of North African (NA) universities, as they responded quickly so as not to lose what remained of the academic year. They needed to provide resources for distance learning, ensure that faculty and staff were committed and dedicated to the success of the endeavor, and develop student support mechanisms. But the pedagogical challenges faced by all NA universities also pointed to opportunities for improvements in teaching and research. As many were to point out, COVID-19 did not introduce distance learning, it simply accelerated an ongoing process. Leading world universities were already on a trajectory towards the incorporation of technology into pedagogy, for the advantages it offers in terms of data access and processing, wider access to resources, cost of education, shared coursework and competencies, collaborative research, and interactivity at all levels. On a strategic plan, the pandemic also drew the attention of NA universities to the larger question of preparedness for the fourth industrial revolution, digitalization, and digital transformation. As international higher education shifts toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and data science programs in order to face the ever-increasing mass of data now available, NA universities and educational decision makers are now also realizing the eventual costs of being left behind. Digitalizing course offerings is but a small part of the role universities have to play in promoting innovation and socio-economic development, through upskilling the current workforce, appropriately training that of tomorrow, and orienting research towards artificial intelligence. Recent initiatives taken in the region may be good indicators of what life after COVID-19 will look like in NA universities.