The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as no other recent phenomenon has. Higher education did not escape the storm. According to UNESCO, schools and higher education institutions were closed in many countries, affecting more than 1.5 billion learners, constituting 89.4% of total enrolled learners.
In order to better understand the disruption caused by COVID-19 on higher education and to investigate the first measures undertaken by higher education institutions around the world to respond to the crisis, the International Association of Universities (IAU) launched the IAU Global Survey on the Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education around the World.
The survey investigated the impact of COVID-19 on all aspects of higher education, teaching and learning, research and community engagement.
It was available online and open from 25 March until 17 April 2020. It received 576 replies from 424 universities and other higher education institutions in 109 countries and two special administrative regions of China (Hong Kong and Macao).
The results were analysed both at the global level and at the regional level in four regions of the world (Africa, the Americas, Asia & Pacific, and Europe).
Considerable impact on higher education
In agreement with UNESCO data, almost all institutions that replied to the survey have been affected by COVID-19, with 59% of them replying that all campus activities have stopped and the institution is completely closed.
The percentage of institutions in Africa responding to the same question is 77%, higher than in all other regions. This result might be surprising because at the time of the survey Africa was the region with the lowest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the world, while more affected regions were Asia & Pacific and especially Europe.
Online teaching and virtual mobility
At almost all higher education institutions that responded to the survey, COVID-19 affected teaching and learning, with two-thirds of them reporting that classroom teaching has been replaced by distance teaching and learning.
At the same time, 89% of higher education institutions reported an impact on student mobility. The type of impact is diverse and varies from institution to institution, but everywhere it has been negative.
Different impacts
Some 80% of higher education institutions reported that research has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic at their institutions. The most common impact of COVID-19 has been the cancelling of international travel (at 83% of higher education institutions) and the cancellation or postponement of scientific conferences (81% of higher education institutions). This suggests that the international component of research has been affected the most.
However, the negative impact of COVID-19 goes beyond that, as a bit more than half of higher education institutions (52%) reported that scientific projects are at risk of not being completed and 21% of higher education institutions even reported that scientific research has completely stopped.
Risk of growing inequality
The data on partnerships and community engagements suggest the existence of two different groups of higher education institutions, with one group being in a weaker position than the other to react to the crisis and feeling its consequences more negatively.
This suggests that there is a severe risk of growing inequality among higher education institutions, as already underlined by other organisations, for instance, the World Bank.
The risk of growing inequality is emerging also from the results of the regional analysis, with higher education institutions in Africa reporting more difficulties and negative effects than higher education institutions in other regions. ♦
