Abstract

Covid-19 has altered the way countries operate in unprecedented ways. In Africa, South Africa is leading in terms of the number of infected cases. The lockdown that was introduced in March 2020 meant that all sectors except the essential services grounded to a halt as a containment measure. The education sector at both the basic and tertiary levels was also affected. Even though higher education in South Africa continues to be among the best in Africa and beyond, students enrolled in higher education come from diverse backgrounds. Students represent different classes, cultural diversity, and varying levels of computer literacy. The call to exclusively migrate learning to digital platforms remains a practical solution to salvage a difficult situation in many ways. However, not all students have the capacity to actively participate in digital learning for varying reasons. This paper focuses on rural-based UKZN first-year students. It draws from data collected through telephonic interviews. The contribution of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it addresses the rural-based students’ experiences with the exclusivity of electronic-based platforms adopted for teaching and learning at UKZN. Secondly, it contends that the acclaimed ‘one size fits all’ remote teaching and learning appears to be ‘phony’ and ‘counterproductive’ because it failed to address the pertinent needs of rural-based UKZN first-year students. The major question raised thus is whether online teaching is meant to reinforce the already existing geo-spatial inequalities in the education system of South Africa or is genuinely meant to salvage an already dire situation.

摘要

Covid-19 以前所未有的方式改变了各国的运作方式。在非洲，南非在感染病例数方面处于领先地位。2020 年 3 月实施的封锁意味着，作为遏制措施，除基本服务外的所有部门都暂停了。基础和高等教育的教育部门也受到影响。尽管南非的高等教育继续在非洲及其他地区名列前茅，但接受高等教育的学生来自不同的背景。学生代表不同的班级、文化多样性和不同水平的计算机知识。将学习完全迁移到数字平台的呼吁仍然是在许多方面挽救困难局面的实用解决方案。然而，由于各种原因，并非所有学生都有能力积极参与数字学习。本文侧重于以农村为基础的 UKZN 一年级学生。它来自通过电话采访收集的数据。这篇论文的贡献是双重的。首先，它解决了农村学生在 UKZN 教学和学习中采用的电子平台的排他性体验。其次，它认为广受赞誉的“一刀切”远程教学似乎是“虚假”和“适得其反”，因为它未能满足农村 UKZN 一年级学生的相关需求。因此提出的主要问题是，在线教学是为了加强南非教育系统中已经存在的地理空间不平等，还是真的是为了挽救已经很糟糕的情况。