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Global Education Monitoring Report

Press release

South Africa Basic Education Ministry commits to improving foundational learning for all children in the country

Pretoria and Paris, 14 March 2024 – The Department of Basic Education has today launched a new report providing evidence-based insights and analysis of foundational learning in South Africa. It is one of four country reports produced in partnership with UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the African Union, as part of the Spotlight report series on foundational learning in Africa. Launched today at the 2024 Basic Education Sector Lekgotla, the annual education sector gathering, this report offers a diagnosis of the current state of foundational education in South Africa, with a focus on the curriculum and presenting concrete actions to improve basic skills, teacher support mechanisms and learning assessments.

The National Development Plan in South Africa calls for strong partnerships to improve learner outcomes by 2030, of which the Spotlight Report is one. Our singular aim is to ensure that no child is left behind in learning, recognising the critical importance of access to quality early learning programmes in the early ages of a child’s life.  Our fruitful collaboration with the GEM Report, ADEA and the African Union has  resulted in key policy solutions to remedy the challenges we face in delivering equitable, quality education for all learners, which we stand committed to pursue.

The report celebrates the achievement of universal primary completion in South Africa since the abolition of apartheid in South Africa in 1994. Grade 9 results in mathematics had shown improvement in the 15 years prior to COVID-19, although Grade 4 results in reading assessed post-COVID suggest that learning levels have been not only low but also falling. 

Three positive practices have been highlighted in the Spotlight Report on South Africa. First, there is clear government commitment to build internal capacity to undertake research and evaluation through close partnerships with researchers and practitioners and use the results in policy and programming. 

The other two are aiming to improve numeracy proficiency. The Teaching Mathematics for Understanding programme has been piloted in 40 schools over the past five years and demonstrates a commitment to improve the proportion of learners who meet internationally agreed upon minimum proficiency levels. Lesson plans are provided for teachers all centred around the aim of ensuring that all learners understand each mathematics concept. 

The Mental Starters Assessment Project introduces six focused mathematics lesson units for Grade 3 students, targeting skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, place value, fractions, and geometry. The aim of the project is to move students beyond inefficient counting methods like finger counting and tally marks, fostering a strong number sense. 

The Spotlight Report reviewed the national curriculum, learner workbooks, teacher guides and mathematics assessments in grades 3 and 6. Alignment across these pedagogical inputs can help learners effectively master these skills. Currently, there is some misalignment between CAPS, the intended national curriculum, and the content of learner textbooks and national assessments, as a result of a multiyear curriculum recovery approach to address the negative impact of COVID-19, in Grade 3 and, to a lesser extent, to Grade 6.

Overall there is strong alignment between the national curriculum and global standards.

These and other findings inform the seven recommendations of the report, offering concrete actions to improve and strengthen learning in South Africa.

1. Continue to support the vision of foundational literacy and numeracy including through high-quality teaching and learning materials.

2. Consider continuing the provision of concrete maths kits and games for early grade maths classes and additional teacher training on how to use them for teaching.

3. Ensure that instructional material is delivered to schools in time for the start of term.

4. Strengthen the accessibility of materials in all official languages across all years of primary school education, not just in the Foundation Phase.

5. Plan targeted teacher support related to content areas where need is shown.

6. Prioritize assessment for monitoring student progress.

7. Continue to improve infrastructure to accommodate increases in student enrolment.

“Our research underscores the critical importance of addressing the gaps between educational policy and classroom implementation. By identifying these challenges and offering actionable recommendations, we aim to empower South African policymakers and educators to create inclusive and effective learning environments for all students”, said Manos Antoninis, the Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report. 

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• Country page: South Africa
• Region: Africa
• SDG: SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

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Covid-19 pandemic and the prospects of education in South Africa

• Cases/Trends
• Published: 19 October 2020
• Volume 51 , pages 425–436, ( 2021 )

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• Lesley Le Grange 1  

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The Covid-19 pandemic has caused havoc in the world, radically changing our lives and raising new and old questions, both existential and educational. This pandemic has revealed the underbelly of South African society in general and its education system more specifically—it has laid bare the gross inequalities that are the legacies of apartheid and the consequences of neoliberal capitalism. Drawing on ideas articulated in the four introductory chapters of the International Handbook of Curriculum Research , edited by William Pinar in 2014, this article discusses Covid-19 and the prospects of education in South Africa. The article shows how understanding the wisdom of indigenous traditions along with the moral dimensions of education, race, and the new technologies of surveillance, neoliberalism, and education can provide a nuanced awareness of the nature of the Covid-19 pandemic. It then explores the implications of such insights for the field of curriculum studies and, where relevant, for the school curriculum. It concludes by showing how these broad themes intersect and gel around the notion of Ubuntu-currere.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has radically changed human lives across the globe. The pandemic has manifested as a multifaceted crisis: health systems of many countries have been found wanting, resulting in deaths; the global economy has plummeted into recession; governments have curtailed freedoms of citizens; and communities have closed schools and higher education institutions during lockdown periods.

As a society, we often raise critical questions in times of crises—old questions and new ones. Asking the perennial existential question of how we ought to live is apposite at this time. And also, the enduring curriculum question, first raised by Herbert Spencer ( 1884 ): What knowledge is of most worth? Other education questions that we could invoke are: How ought we to teach/learn? What are the prospects for education during and after the Covid-19 pandemic? What is education for in troubled times? Is knowledge enough? We are witnessing emerging responses to these questions, and I shall touch on these questions in various ways in this article.

For the most recent International Handbook of Curriculum Research , Pinar ( 2014 ) commissioned four introductory chapters to challenge accounts on curriculum studies presented by authors from different nations. In the first chapter, Autio ( 2014 ) highlights the moral dimension of education and makes the point that it is education’s implicit morality that makes it educative. Autio’s use of “morality” is not meant in a didactive sense but is more akin to ethics: a commitment to engage, in an ongoing basis, with the worthiness of knowledge—that is, with the worthiness of what education programmes include and/or exclude. According to Pinar ( 2014 , p. 2), it is this sense of the moral that informs our “profession’s ethics, our commitment to study, and teach as we engage in academic research to understand curriculum”. Moreover, it also involves understanding curriculum as a complicated conversation that occurs among scholars of the field and between scholars and students.

In the second chapter, McCarthy, Bulut, and Patel ( 2014 ) discuss the reconfiguration of power that globalization accelerates, with a particular focus on race. They point out that race cannot be viewed in isolation but needs to be understood in contemporary times as structured through contradictory processes of globalisation, localisation, migration, and technologies of surveillance. The technologies of surveillance that the authors refer to are biometric technologies of information: face scanning; finger printing; DNA sampling; and so on. McCarthy et al. ( 2014 ) focus particularly on race, but their discussion can be extrapolated to other forms of discriminations that globalizations and new technologies hasten or reconfigure.

In the third chapter, Smith ( 2014 ) assesses the influence of neoliberalism on education, which includes, among other things, privatization, standardized assessments, and the use of technologies to make teaching/learning more efficient. He asks a pertinent question: how might we reimagine education given that neoliberalism brings into question the very assumptions that education is based on? Smith ( 2014 ) suggests that we need to analyze and interrogate neoliberalism on an ongoing basis in order to work through it, and that the inspiration for this ongoing examination could be drawn from the wisdom traditions, be they indigenous, religious, or philosophical.

In chapter 4, Wang ( 2014 ) focuses on nonviolence, which she explicates as an embodied sense of interconnectedness among humans, affirming compassion and a positive affiliation with others—in other words, our common humanity. She finds support for her argument from several philosophical, religious, and ethical traditions, including the African notion of Ubuntu, the Chinese notion of Tao, and indigenous peace-making traditions in North America.

In this article, I use the ideas articulated in these four chapters as a broad frame for advancing my thoughts. Accordingly, I divide the rest of the article into the following sections: the moral dimension of education; race, technologies of surveillance, and bio-informationism; neoliberalism and the prospects of education after the Covid-19 pandemic; and why we need Ubuntu-currere. Although my focus here is on the scholarly field of curriculum studies, I do at times explore implications for the school curriculum. When referring to the school curriculum, I make reference to the school subject that I know best, school biology.

The moral dimension of education

Education is by definition a moral enterprise, but the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to particular moral dilemmas for all people involved in education. Governments had to make decisions on school closings and also on when to reopen them. These are not easy decisions, and neither are the consequent choices that those impacted have had to make. In South Africa, schools are more than places where knowledge is exchanged between teacher and learner. For children from vulnerable communities, they are also places of safety and security: among other things, more than 9 million children receive 2 meals per day at school as part of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). But during the lockdown period and level 4 of the government’s risk-adjusted approach, the NSNP was temporarily suspended. This left these children at risk of being underfed and/or malnourished during periods of school closures.

Gontsana ( 2020 ) reports that during the lockdown period the government of the Western Cape, one of the nine provinces in South Africa, made emergency funding available to provide meals to children in vulnerable communities. (The Western Cape is the only province not governed by the ruling party, the African National Congress [ANC]. It is governed by the nation’s official opposition, the Democratic Alliance [DA].) Thus, some schools opened their gates, arranged for learners to sit in open fields at a distance from one another, and gave them meals. However, the country’s largest teachers union, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), opposed this action. SADTU is affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which, together with the South African Communist Party, is in a tripartite alliance with the ANC. SADTU stated that the DA was going against the president’s plans to curb the spread of the virus, and although the union was concerned about the welfare of working-class learners and their families, it was opposed to learners being given meals on the school grounds because this would place them and their communities at increased risk. In this instance, one might argue that two entities with different political motives were using learners as a political football. The teacher in this situation is faced with a difficult moral dilemma. Assuming that the teacher is a member of SADTU and is also acutely aware that learners are not receiving adequate nutrition during the lockdown period, does the teacher support his/her union or does the teacher assist with feeding learners at the school?

At the time of writing this article, the South African minister of basic education announced a phased reopening of schools. Learners who returned to schools first were those at the exit points of primary and high schools—grades 7 and 12 learners, respectively. This happened in June 2020, which was the beginning of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and the disease was predicted to peak in South Africa around August/September 2020. Thus, learners returned to schools at arguably the most vulnerable time for them in terms of the spread of the pandemic. The government has said that parents can decide themselves whether to allow their children to return to school or to do home schooling. This is a difficult moral decision for any parent to make. It is an even more difficult decision for poor and working-class families, who do not have the facilities and capacity to support their children to do home schooling and who may need to find childcare if they have to return to work themselves. Role players in education have only difficult choices, as these two instances illustrate. And decisions of this kind might best be left to parents, free of coercion. But what should the response of scholars who engage in the study of curriculum be at this time? What is their moral obligation during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Autio ( 2014 ) refers to the sense of “moral” as a “professional ethics” that relates to our commitment to study, teach, and engage in academic research aimed at understanding curriculum. During the Covid-19 pandemic, though we might be isolated and unable to engage with one another through traditional face-to-face means, our commitment to study, teach, and engage in academic research should not weaken. In fact, at this time we need a deeper commitment to this sense of ethics. This means that we should use new technologies to engage in complicated conversations about curriculum-related matters. As with many other conferences, the 2020 annual conference of the South African Education Research Association (SAERA) was cancelled, but members have been encouraged to engage with one another through their special interest groups (SIGS), facilitated through use of technology. Members of the Curriculum Studies SIG, for example, have had complex conversations about the curriculum challenges facing South Africa during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The SIG released a statement that invites a broader audience to take part in such ongoing discussions. These conversations have not been chitchats of the kind Aoki ( 2004 ) cautions against, nor have they been simple exchanges of information; instead, they have been robust, often involving disagreement, but always with a sense of mutual belonging and a commitment to the intellectual life of the field. I have been privileged to enjoy such exchanges in transnational spaces, in the way in which Pinar ( 2006 , p. 178) suggests that such spaces can be productive. He points out that, in transnational spaces, scholars of the field should distance themselves from their own national cultures and politics, and listen respectfully to others, thus creating “a global public space for dissension, debate, and on occasion solidarity”. At this time, we need such often-difficult conversations to intensify—we do not need social distancing but social solidarity in national and transnational spaces that new technologies and the commitment of curriculum scholars make possible. In other words, we need physical distancing, not social distancing.

Again, with reference to the moral dimension of education, Autio ( 2014 ) also refers to the need for conversations and debates on the worthiness of knowledge. That is, we need to ask critical questions about what knowledge is of most worth when it comes to the school curriculum during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, I turn to school biology as an example. Since its inception, a feature of school biology has been the debate on whether it is a “science of life” or a “science of living” (Le Grange 2008 ). Few would disagree that school biology has to include both of these dimensions, but the pendulum has swung back and forth over the years concerning where we should place the emphasis. From the last half of the twentieth century to the twenty-first century, school biology has been largely characterized by the force-feeding of learners of a diet of “theory”, regurgitated on tests and examinations—content is often irrelevant to the needs of learners or of society. In other words, during that time schools have emphasized biology as a “science of life” (Le Grange 2008 ). Less than 2% of South African school leavers continue with careers in biology-related fields. Therefore, for the majority of learners who take biology at school, the current subject content is largely unrelated to their lives. This is true despite its potential relevance to many contemporary issues facing society; among them, human diseases, including virus-causing diseases such as Covid-19; human trafficking involving the sale of body parts; biodiversity loss; commodification of the genetic code; threats of biological warfare. Instead of traditional unifying themes such as “structure and function” or “evolution”, the curriculum could revolve around more relevant themes, such as sustainability, for example. Such themes also reinforce connections between many other school subjects. Here, the notion of sustainability does not have to do with policy goals but with cultivating a frame of mind that enables lifelong learning.

To continue with sustainability as an example, using it as a unifying theme in biology classrooms could prove to be productive. Instead of learners studying animals only in relation to themes such as structure and function, they could investigate what sustains an animal in fulfilling its ecological role, or occupying its niche, for example. It involves a way of getting learners to think about biology differently, to develop frames of mind focused on sustainability. Bonnett ( 2003 , p. 683) avers that a frame of mind is a “general mode of engagement with the world through which the world as a whole is revealed to us. … [I]t is more or less a conscious way of being in the world”. This requires a specific cognitive/conceptual outlook—but also involves our sensing of things and encapsulates the affective, moral, aesthetic, imaginative, and other receptions and responses that Bonnett ( 2003 , p. 684) refers to as “a mode of sensibility”. It is a mode of sensibility toward sustainability that might be cultivated in biology classrooms after the Covid-19 pandemic. Not as a quick fix but as a habit of mind that might develop over time as the world of biology is “revealed” to learners through a conscious focus on sustainability.

Race, technologies of surveillance, and bioinformationism

In their chapter, McCarthy et al. ( 2014 ) challenge scholars of curriculum to take seriously the reconfiguration of power as globalization quickens, and in particular how technologies of surveillance—such as biometric technologies, face scanning, finger printing, DNA sampling, etc.—can be used to advance or sustain racism. Subtle forms of racism might emerge as technologies of surveillance are used after the Covid-19 pandemic, because these technologies provide fertile ground for racism’s growth and consolidation. The pandemic will probably accelerate racism and other forms of discrimination, for several reasons—and there is already evidence of this. But the Covid-19 pandemic has also exposed the underbelly of racial inequalities in such countries as the US, the UK, and South Africa.

Devakumar, Shannon, Bhopal, and Abubakar ( 2020 ) point out that outbreaks such as Covid-19 create fear, and that fear is the key ingredient for racism and xenophobia to flourish. They go on to say that the pandemic has exposed the social and political fractures within communities, with racialized responses, that have affected marginalized groups disproportionately. Devakumar et al. ( 2020 ) note that we have already witnessed microaggressions or overt violence targeting Chinese people and barring them from establishments. Moreover, political leaders have exploited the Covid-19 pandemic to buttress racial discrimination by hardening border polices and conflating public health curtailments with anti-migrant rhetoric. For example, Italy’s Prime Minister cynically linked the Covid-19 pandemic to African asylum seekers, and the US President referred to SARS-CoV-2 as “the China virus” (Devakumar et al. 2020 ). These developments create fertile ground for racism, which is now also advanced through the technologies of surveillance that McCarthy et al. ( 2014 ) identify. The advances in technologies accelerated by Covid-19—and the powers that governments have to subject citizens, and particularly foreign nationals, to a range of tests under the guise of protecting public health interests—could be further aiding and abetting this situation.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also laid bare racial inequalities in the US, UK, and South Africa. In the US, the death rate among African Americans is three times that of white Americans because of poor living conditions, poor nutrition, lack of access to healthcare facilities, and comorbidities (Begley 2020 ). Moreover, African Americans are also bearing the brunt of the devastating economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic (Rodgers 2020 ). We have also observed this disproportionate negative effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on black and Asian people in the UK. Andrews ( 2000 ) points out that this should not surprise us, and that it is a mistake to look at these racial differences through the lens of biology, because the issue is not a genetic but a social one. It is the consequence of sustained discrimination at systemic levels—economic, political, and social. In South Africa, this pandemic has revealed the extent of the country’s gross inequalities. Recent statistics show that 20 million South Africans do not have reliable access to running water in their homes (Ellis 2020 ); the government had to deliver thousands of water tanks to communities in a desperate attempt to slow the spread of the virus. And in the informal settlements where millions of black South Africans live, social distancing is a near impossibility. These vulnerable South African communities are also likely to bear the brunt of the economic impact of the pandemic.

McCarthy et al. ( 2014 ) have reminded us of the importance of bringing race—and its reconfiguration as globalization accelerates—into our curriculum conversations and actions. Race and racism—if they are currently blind spots or blank spots in our work—need to become key concerns in educational arenas. According to Wagner ( 1993 ), blank spots are what scientists know enough about to question but do not know how to answer, and blind spots are what they don’t care about or know enough about. To return for a moment to school biology: When it emphasizes a “science of life” approach, then race becomes a genetic topic and the conclusion is that there is only one human race, one species, Homo Sapiens . However, this approach can create a blind spot to race as a social construct and its sustained negative impact on people of colour across the globe. And it is this blind spot that has also made race science endure for more than a century and why we are seeing its growth in contemporary times (for more details, see Le Grange 2019a ). If school biology is to address issues related to race, then an emphasis on a “science of living” approach is more apposite than a “science of life” approach.

Lastly in this section, I shall turn briefly to the issue of bioinformationalism. Bioinformationalism relates to parallels between the propagation of fake news in social media echo chambers, and the evolution and transmission of infectious diseases (Peters, McLaren, and Jandrić 2020 ). Peters et al. ( 2020 ) point out that the Covid-19 pandemic is the first instance in which a biological virus has become dialectically intertwined with nonbiological viral information. What the authors are suggesting is that a biological virus and nonbiological viral information are working in tandem to accelerate the spread the virus. In other words, when fake news about the pandemic goes viral—such as “Covid-19 does not affect Africans” (a myth circulated across the African continent [Padayachee and Du Toit 2020 ])—it influences peoples’ behaviour in a manner that results in the spreading of the biological virus. And when the viral spread of fake news has racial connotations, such as linking the biological virus to African asylum seekers, then it also spreads racism. The coterminous nature of biological and nonbiological-information viruses adds to the complexity of issues related to the reconfiguration of race that globalization quickens and, consequently, to the complexity of curriculum scholars’ work. To return to school biology for the moment: the imbrication of biological viruses and the viral spread of nonbiological information could certainly be a topic for inclusion in school biology classroom conversations, and learners could be asked to generate as many similarities and differences between biological viruses and nonbiological viruses generated through ITCs as possible.

Neoliberalism and the prospects of education after the Covid-19 pandemic

In his chapter, Smith ( 2014 ) reminds curriculum scholars of the pervasiveness of neoliberalism in education and emphasizes the need to analyze neoliberalism and its effects on an ongoing basis. Neoliberalism can be traced back to seventeenth-century liberal perspectives, which became marginalized as a result of the rise of welfare-state liberalism (late nineteenth century) and Keynesian economics (twentieth century). The revival of neoliberalism in the late twentieth century is associated with the emergence of the new right in Europe and the US, often referred to as “Thatcherism” and “Reaganism” after two of its key proponents (Le Grange 2006 ). Although neoliberalism has different strands, all neoliberals embrace the following three basic principles: a commitment to individual liberty and a reduced state; a shift in policy and ideology against government intervention; and a belief that market forces should be allowed to be self-regulating (for a comprehensive discussion on the ascendancy of neoliberalism, see Olssen, Codd, and O’Neill 2004 ).

Many Western governments floundered when Covid-19 resulted in a global pandemic because their health systems were unable to cope with the pandemic’s demands. Governments found themselves in a precarious position because of their underspending on healthcare—consequent on adopting neoliberal policies. Moreover, some scholars have gone as far as to link an increase in relatively unknown and highly infectious viruses to neoliberal capitalism. As McKinley ( 2020 ) writes:

[T]he increased occurrence of largely unknown and ever-more-virulent viruses is directly linked to the nature/character of land use and food production under the neo-liberal model of capitalism; to the contemporary dominance of an “industrial model” of agriculture that is umbilically tied to the never-ending search for maximum profits, whatever the human, social and/or environmental consequences.

Just as the Covid-19 pandemic as a public health crisis needs to be understood against the backdrop of neoliberalism, so, too, does the education crisis that has deepened during the pandemic in South Africa. In the late 1980s, the outgoing apartheid government of South Africa adopted neoliberal education policies and introduced new models for white schooling that involved the semi-privatization of these state schools under the guise of racially integrating them. The school model that survived into South Africa’s democratic dispensation was the model-C school; today, many elite and middle-class public schools in South Africa are commonly referred to as “former model-C schools”. At their inception, the model-C schools were fee-paying schools, and they were allowed to sell excess land, which enabled them to accumulate capital. These resources enabled these schools to appoint additional teachers to their staffs and, by doing so, improve the quality of education provided. After 1994, South Africa’s democratically elected government continued the neoliberal trend and maintained what has become a grossly unequal public school system. The government’s attempts to make the schools in economically poor communities non–fee paying—by dividing them into different quintiles—have done little to arrest the inequalities that characterize the South African schooling landscape (see Le Grange, Reddy, and Beets 2012 ).

When South Africa went into lockdown during the pandemic and closed its schools, the unequal education system in South Africa was exposed even further. Learners in private schools as well as in affluent and middle-class public schools migrated relatively easily to emergency remote learning, because these learners had access to devices and connectivity, as well as support from teachers and parents. Access to any form of online learning for the majority of school learners remains a pipedream; thus, the Covid-19 pandemic has likewise laid bare the severity of the digital divide in South Africa (Davids 2020 ). Moreover, when schools reopen as the country moves to lower levels of its risk-adjusted approach, learners who attend schools in economically poor communities will be at greater health risk. Such schools lack basic sanitation and water infrastructure; moreover, their inferior facilities will make physical distancing a challenge. Although learners in South Africa’s bimodal schooling system have the same explicit curriculum, the curriculum-as-lived by the two sets of learners is radically different. The Covid-19 pandemic will further reduce the life chances of a learner from a school in an economically poor community relative to those of a learner in a private or affluent public school.

Additionally, as affluent and middle-class schools pivot toward online learning and governments invest in technology infrastructure to make online learning more widely available after the Covid-19 pandemic, we must be aware of the dangers regarding these developments in the context of neoliberal capitalism. It is my contention that we should view new technologies (and in the context of education, online teaching/learning) dialectically. In other words, we need to recognize both their productive potential to advance the goals of social justice and the dangers of their consolidating inequities. In the context of neoliberal capitalism, not only will the digital divide widen, as noted, but also the migration to online learning could result in greater privatization of schooling as for-profit intermediaries become involved in developing online programmes/courses. This is because public schools do not have the capacity to develop such programmes or courses—platform pedagogy morphs into platform capitalism (for a more detailed discussion on such developments, see Hall 2016 ; Le Grange 2020 ). In this context, instrumentalist approaches to education would thrive and policy makers would cement standardized tests to improve efficiencies. Performativity regimes—including surveillance of both teachers and learners—are likely to increase.

If there is a lesson to be learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is that communities in South Africa radically reconfigure and resource their schools. Such a reconfiguration needs to make those who inhabit schools (learners and teachers) the central concern, and to open up the pathways for the becoming of their lives (in relationship with one another). It is with this in mind that I turn to a discussion of the notion of Ubuntu-currere.

Why we need Ubuntu-currere

The Covid-19 pandemic will probably not be the last global crisis facing humanity in the twenty-first century. If another virulent virus is not the cause of such crisis, then the cause could be an environmental catastrophe—that is, if humanity continues on its unsustainable course and neoliberal capitalism continues to thrive. It is sobering to note that global crises have not led to the weakening of neoliberal capitalism, as evident in the case of the 2008/2009 financial crisis. Hall ( 2016 ) points out that it was not surprising that Uber and Airbnb had their genesis during that financial crisis, in the years 2008 and 2009, respectively. These for-profit, “sharing”-economy, platform-based companies have taken neoliberalism to an ideal form. Customers benefit from the services offered, but, for the on-demand worker in these industries, rights and benefits have become eroded as these businesses escape state regulation (see Hall 2016 ; Le Grange 2020 ). And so, there is a danger that, in the wake of the current pandemic, we might see greater privatization of several sectors, including healthcare and education.

Smith ( 2014 ), in his chapter, averred that, to get beyond neoliberalism, we need to analyze it on an ongoing basis. He goes on to say that in our critical engagement with neoliberalism we might find inspiration in wisdom traditions, be they indigenous, religious, or philosophical. It is this part of Smith’s chapter that connects to Wang’s ( 2014 )—the fourth introductory chapter in Pinar’s ( 2014 ) edited handbook—where she promotes nonviolence through the invocation of indigenous and peace-making traditions such as the African notion of Ubuntu and the Chinese notion of Tao. Given the violence perpetrated against humans (particularly those on the margins of societies) that the Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare, we could find inspiration from the traditions that Wang ( 2014 ) refers to. Therefore, following on from Smith ( 2014 ) and Wang ( 2014 ), I propose that the notion of Ubuntu-currere might provide the inspiration and motive force for ridding ourselves of the shackles of neoliberal capitalism and its effects on education.

I invoked the idea of Ubuntu-currere in a keynote address at the fifth triennial conference of the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies (IAACS) (Le Grange 2015 ). The idea brings together insights from the African value of Ubuntu and William Pinar’s ( 1975 ) autobiographical method currere , which was extended by Wallin ( 2010 ). Ubuntu, derived from aphorisms in the Nguni languages of southern Africa, means that our being and becoming is dependent on others. In contrast to Descartes’s cogito ergo sum , “I think, therefore I am”, Ubuntu means “because we are, therefore I am”. Some have misconstrued the meaning of Ubuntu, arguing that it is, by definition, speciesist. However, what we need to understand is that relationality between humans (Ubuntu) is emblematic of the relatedness of all things in the cosmos. I point out that Ubuntu is the concrete expression of the Shona concept Ukama, which mean relatedness of all things in the cosmos (Le Grange 2012 ). In other words, Ubuntu is a microcosm of Ukama. Moreover, Ramose ( 2009 ) has argued that Ubuntu is antihumanist and involves the ongoing unfolding of the human in relationship with the other—that the human being is in-becoming.

Forty-five years ago, Pinar ( 1975 ) first invoked the etymological root of “curriculum”: the Latin currere , “to run the course”. In doing so, he refocused curriculum on the significance of individual experience, “whatever the course content or alignment with society or the economy” (Pinar 2011 , p. xii). Currere privileges the individual and Pinar ( 2011 , p. 2) argues that it is a complicated concept, because each of us is different in our genetic makeup, our upbringings, our families, and, more broadly, our race, gender, class, and so on. Put simply, currere shifts the attention away from the concept of a predetermined course to run, to a focus on how the course is run by each individual, given each one’s unique makeup, context, hopes, aspirations, and interactions “with other human beings and the more-than-human world” (Le Grange 2019b , pp. 221–22). In other words, each person has her or his own life story, and the understanding of one’s own story through academic study is at the heart of curriculum. Pinar ( 1975 ) develops currere as an autobiographical method with four steps or moments—regressive, progressive, analytical, and synthetical—that depict both temporal and reflective moments for autobiographical research of educational experience.

Both Ubuntu and currere affirm the importance of human experience—the being and becoming human—and the unfolding of the human as the world is revealed to it. But Le Grange ( 2015 , 2019b ) brings the two notions together to shift the emphasis from the individual to a subject that is ecological—a subject that is embodied, embedded, and enacted. I invigorated lines of connections between emerging (post)human theories to create a new concept: Ubuntu-currere. I wrote:

Ubuntu-currere shifts our registers of reference away from the individual human being to an assemblage of human-human-nature. In other words, subjectivity is ecological. Moreover, the subject is always in becoming and the becoming of a pedagogical life is relational—the subject becomes in relation to other humans and the more-than-human-world. The notion in-becoming ensures that the human cannot be defined nor have fixity and therefore Ubuntu-currere is anti-humanist. Put differently, Ubuntu-currere negates the construction of a molar identity that is a screen against which anything different is othered in a negative sense. Ubuntu-currere has resonance with new materialist post-human theory in that it embraces an ontology of immanence—that there is a material immanent plane that connects everything in the cosmos and from which all actualised forms unfold/become. Ubuntu-currere opens up multiple coursings for developing post-human sensibilities driven by the positive power of potentia that connects, expresses desire and sustains life. … But, it also makes possible conversations with the more-than-human so that we can listen to the rhythm and heartbeat of the earth—so that our conversations do not happen on the earth but are bent by the earth. (Le Grange 2019b , pp. 221–222; italics in original)

Ubuntu-currere affirms the importance of caring for other humans beings—“humanness” does not mean humanism and is antithetical to it. The subject of education informed by Ubuntu-currere is not egoistic and holds no ontological privilege, but is placed on an immanent plane with all living beings. The actions (ethics) of this subject in the world are to release the power that is within—in contrast to the power that imposes or acts upon the other. This power of potentia is within all life and connects all modes of life. It is this same power that we see when humans perform generous acts of caring for others during the Covid-19 pandemic, when they unselfishly give up their lives to save or feed another. This power is counter to the negative power of postestas that imposes, that engages in othering, that colonizes, that controls, etc. If we are to have a different post-Covid-19 world, then its actualization depends on invigorating potentia . Education informed by Ubuntu-currere involves supporting learners to release potentia so that actions in the world are about enhancing life.

Concluding thoughts

The ideas advanced in the four introductory chapters of the International Handbook of Curriculum Research that frame this article are connected to one another and crystalize in the notion of Ubuntu-currere. The moral dimension of education speaks to our sense of belonging to something bigger than our individual selves and the need for our ongoing commitment to engage in complicated conversations with one another, and more so in troubled times. And in such conversations, we should understand and investigate how the ongoing discriminations of all kinds that continue to plague us are amplified and accelerated. The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare how those on the margins of society bear the brunt of the pandemic—and that the underlying cause of much of this reality of inequality is the dominance of neoliberal capitalism. If we are to avoid the damaging effects of crises such as the current one, then we need perform currere to free ourselves from the fetters of neoliberal capitalism. And if we are to live in harmony with one another and the more/other-than-human world, then we need to fuse currere with Ubuntu. Ubuntu-currere makes possible an education that is a life-long affair of experimentation with the real—experimentation constrained only by life itself. Put differently, our experimentation with life should be curtailed only when we hurt other humans or the more/other-than-human world.

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Le Grange, L. Covid-19 pandemic and the prospects of education in South Africa. Prospects 51 , 425–436 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09514-w

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Empowering South Africa's Education Landscape: A Journey in Social and Emotional Learning

In the heart of South Africa's vibrant educational landscape, a pioneering initiative was set in motion between UNESCO MGIEP and the Western Cape Education Department in South Africa (WCED) from 26 to 30 June 2023. The partnership provided intensive training on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) to just under 200 participants including Care and Support Assistants (CSAs) teachers, district officials, CSA coordinators, and other WCED staff members. An additional 200 teachers will receive virtual training later this year.

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Learners in south africa up to one school year behind where they should be, on the eve of the re-opening of school, unicef calls for urgent action to protect schools from vandalism and urges ongoing compliance to covid-19 safety measures so that every child can be in class, every day..

PRETORIA, 22 July 2021 – The impact of disrupted education since the COVID-19 outbreak has been devastating, with learners between 75 per cent and a full school year behind where they should be, according to latest statistics. Rotational attendance, sporadic school closures and days off for specific grades, have resulted in school children losing 54 per cent of learning time.

Some 400,000 to 500,000 learners have reportedly also dropped out of school altogether over the past 16-months. This is most likely for children living in informal urban and rural settings, with household poverty also playing a critical role. The total number of out of school children is now up to 750,000.

“The reality is that South Africa cannot afford to lose another learner or another hour of learning time,” said Christine Muhigana, UNICEF South Africa Representative. “It is urgent that we get every child back into the classroom, safely, now,” Muhigana added.

Being out of school not only leads to learning loss but mental distress, exposure to violence and abuse, missed school-based meals and reduced development of social skills. In the longer-term, the skills needed to transition into working lives will be affected. Evidence also shows that when children are out of school, women are twice as likely to take on childcare responsibilities, affecting their ability to work or search for work. 

The switch to blended learning, following the COVID-19 outbreak, was quick and included rotational classes, as well as access to online, radio and TV educational resources.

"Remote learning has been a lifeline for some children but for the most vulnerable in South Africa, even this was out of reach,” said Muhigana. Access to the devices, data and skills necessary to navigate online resources are simply not possible for many children. “We need to ensure that we prioritize vulnerable girls and boys in all our efforts to keep children in classrooms,” added Muhigana.

The education system can’t afford any further shocks, such as the recent unrest which resulted in more than 140 schools being vandalized in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. This comes on the back of the more than 2,000 schools that were looted and damaged during the hard COVID-19 lockdown last year.

“The twin burden of COVID-19 and recent disruptions equally affects teachers, supporting and improving their well-being should be a priority,” said Muhigana. “We are glad that the Department of Basic Education is hosting the first ever ‘Teacher Wellness Seminar’ and UNICEF is committed to provide its full support to the education sector,” she added.

To keep every child in class, UNICEF is lending its support to the Department of Basic Education and partners in the ongoing efforts to:

• Promote community dialogues that engage parents, caregivers, and community leaders in school life, to increase their ownership over local schools, which in-turn can help ensure their protection.
• Maintain adherence to the child-friendly COVID-19 standard operating procedures and protocols to keep children, teachers, and educational staff as safe as possible.
• Cover the last mile in further increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the education sector.
• Continue improving access to handwashing facilities and hygiene promotion activities for all children. UNICEF and its partners will build on work that has already seen 400 handwashing stations installed in targeted schools that lack decent facilities.
• Promote and scale-up effective remedial programmes to help students get back on track.
• Improve access to psychosocial support for children and educational staff to cope with the ongoing stress of COVID-19 and the recent unrest.

UNICEF calls on all stakeholders to ‘Reimagine Education’ to help regain the ground lost, by taking advantage of emerging technologies to accelerate education service delivery, while focusing on equity and broader partnerships for greater impact.

Notes to editors:

Latest statistics come from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (CRAM) Wave 5, as well as the Department of Basic Education.

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The impact of poverty on basic education in South Africa: A systematic review of literature

2021, Systematic Reviews of Research in Basic Education in South Africa

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Teacher education is the nexus of the education system. In this chapter, we aim to add to the discourse on the decolonisation of teacher education in the South African context. Teacher education in HEIs prepares prospective teachers, the pre-service teachers, with the necessary training for desired educational goals. Hence, teachers have an important role to develop learners who can responsively fit and relevantly develop their immediate environments. Learners are to be provided with knowledge and skills that apply to the realities of their environment. This implies that teacher education must also prepare pre-service teachers with knowledge and skills that are appropriate for the tasks; therefore, the need to decolonise teacher education becomes necessary. The minds of students need to be decolonised for realities around them by the teacher educators who can be flexible in classroom teaching for the desired change in the society. The call for decolonisation of education in HEIs of South Africa has become prominent amongst scholars to dismantle the present Eurocentric-dominated knowledge and to engage students with a decolonised curriculum that will embrace and promote Africanisation and Indigenous Knowledge.

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• Published: 02 October 2020

Emergent transition from face-to-face to online learning in a South African University in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic

• Cedric B. Mpungose 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  7 , Article number:  113 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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South African universities have been forced to transit from face-to-face to online learning (e-learning) as a result of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). However, various challenges hinder disadvantaged students from realising the full potential of e-learning. Therefore, this study’s main objective is to propose alternative pathways to overcome such challenges for students, to enable them to have access to effective e-learning. This study draws on a two-year postdoctoral qualitative research project conducted at a South African university to explore students’ experiences of the transition from face-to-face to e-learning. Twenty-six students completing a curriculum studies programme were purposively and conveniently sampled to generate data using e-reflective activity, Zoom group meetings and a WhatsApp one-on-one semi-structured interview. Findings articulate the digital divide as a hindrance to students realising the full potential of e-learning, yet lecturers still want students to submit assessment tasks and engage with course activities on the Moodle learning management system. With universities using face-to-face learning becoming vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges which result in a shutdown of university sites, alternatives need to be sought to allow students, particularly disadvantaged students, to realise e-learning.

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Introduction.

Since the beginning of higher education, from the time of colonisation to the era of decolonisation, almost all South African universities have been dependent on face-to-face learning (Cuban, 1986 ; Mgqwashu’, 2017 ). Jansen ( 2004 ) argues that face-to-face learning is believed be traditional and excludes students’ experiences, because it occurs in the presence of a lecturer depositing knowledge for students in a demarcated classroom, using traditional methods (lecturer-centred) and traditional resources like textbooks, chats, chalkboards and others. However, these demarcated physical classrooms are not accessible in the case of challenges ranging from student protests to pandemic outbreaks. Face-to-face learning provides real-time contact with resources and others, takes place within a specified contact time, and provides prompt feedback to students (Black and Wiliam, 2006 ; Waghid, 2018 ). That said, e-learning is education that takes place over the Internet is alternatively called online learning, and it is an umbrella term for any learning that takes place across distance and not in a face-to-face platform (Anderson, 2016 ; Mpungose, 2020a ). Furthermore, Choudhury and Pattnaik ( 2020 ) affirm that, e-learning definition evolves with the evolution of Web from Web 0 to 4.0. Thus, “the world was introduced to Internet-based learning with Web 0, which was a read-only site. Thereon, Web (2.0) and Web (3.0) allowed real-time interaction and connected intelligence, respectively. We now witness Web 4.0 where machine and the human brain can directly interact” (Choudhury and Pattnaik, 2020 , p. 2). The concepts of e-learning, distance education, online learning and web-based education are concepts that have been used in the literature. However, Rodrigues et al. ( 2019 , p. 88) affirm that both these concepts share the common feature that “they are a form of instruction that occurs between a learner and an instructor and are held at different times and/or places, using several forms of material”. As such, Arkorful and Abaidoo ( 2015 ) refer to e-learning as the use of educational technologies to enable access to learning and teaching material online. Thus, the importance of e-learning which takes place through the use of the Internet in 21st century university education is undeniable, particularly for the students of today as digital natives (Bennett et al., 2008 ; Prensky, 2001 ). Amory ( 2010 ) and Khoza ( 2019b ) state that e-learning is capable of making course content available online, because of the widespread use of modern technologies such as hardware resources (computers, laptops, mobile phones and others), and software resources (learning management system, software applications, social media sites and others). This suggests that students have freedom to access course information/content anytime and anywhere, irrespective of challenges such as the pandemic outbreak—provided they have access to hardware and software resources.

In complicating the above debate, some studies (Liu and Long, 2014 ; Nikoubakht and Kiamanesh, 2019 ) further argue that face-to-face learning is irreplaceable and is the cornerstone of every learning institution, even if the current discourse and technological revolution demand the use of e-learning. The latter studies believe that there is still a conundrum between face-to-face (person-to-person interaction in a live synchronous platform) and e-learning (self-paced learning in an asynchronous platform). As a solution to this conundrum, other scholars (Anderson, 2016 ; Bates, 2018 ; Graham, 2006 ) believe that blended learning which combines online and face-to-face learning is the way to go, so that students can use many ways of accessing course content based on their needs (strengths/limitations).

Nevertheless, there are compelling conditions that can make students choose online over face-to-face learning; this may include violent student protest, pandemic diseases like COVID-19 in the context of this study, and others. According the World Health Organization-WHO ( 2020 ), COVID-19 is a new strain of viruses discovered in 2019, which cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases that can lead to death. They are transmitted between animals and people. Common symptoms of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, and shortness of breath. As at 31 March 2020, statistics stay at 33 106 deaths globally and in Africa is currently 60 deaths. In other words, this pandemic poses a threat to the face-to-face learning context globally, including in South Africa.

On 11 March 2020 the WHO ( 2020 ) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and everyone was advised to avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms. Therefore, universities across the globe have to shut down. In the South African context the President called on all universities to shut down and find ways to offer lectures online as from 18 March 2020 as a precautionary measure (DHET, 2020 ). This call raised questions as to the feasibility of e-learning, particularly at the School of Education in one of the universities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, because of the extent of inequalities in the South African context. While Mzangwa ( 2019 ) agrees with Bunting ( 2006 ) that since 1994 much has been done in higher education to redress the inequalities of the past through higher education institutions’ policy amendments through the National Plan for Higher Education (Ministry of Education, 2001 ). These amendments have not led to benefits for the majority of previously disadvantaged black South African students in terms of access to e-learning.

In addition, the digital divide—the gap between those who have and do not have access to computers and the Internet—seems to be a huge factor limiting the feasibility of e-learning in a South African context (Van Deursen and van Dijk, 2019 ; Warschauer, 2002 ). These latter studies further assert that issues such as socio-economic factors, race, social class, gender, age, geographical area and educational background determine the level of the digital divide in a university context. While access to the Internet and computers is high in developed European and American universities, African universities—particularly in the South African context—are still battling because of the intensity of the factors which led to the digital divide (Van Deursen and van Dijk, 2019 ). Research shows that various programmes and policies have been developed and implemented to remedy this challenge; hence, universities provide students with free laptops and Wi-Fi (wireless network commonly allows technological devices to interface with internet) access inside the university and residences (Rodrigues et al., 2019 ; Schofield, 2007 ). However, little or no research has been done in the South African context to intervene in addressing university students’ challenges (the digital divide) that hinder them from accessing e-learning from home. This study argues that e-learning while students are at home can never be realised in a South African university context unless the digital divide is addressed. In proposing alternative pathways for South African universities to deal with the digital divide, this study considers a connectivism learning framework.

Conceptualising learning in a digital age

The rapidly evolving technological landscape in the 21st century has meant that university lecturers “have been forced to adapt their teaching approaches without a clear roadmap for attending to students’ various needs” (Kop and Hill, 2008 , p. 2). As a result, connectivism is the promising initial lens through which to conceptualise learning in this digital age, because of its varying attributes from face-to-face to e-learning. Thus, Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ) see learning as the process of crossing boundaries by creating connections or relationships between human and non-human nodes through the setting of an interconnected network. Connectivist learning draws much from available Internet and technological resources to make an effective network that will maximise learning. As a result, connectivity seeks university lecturers to consider the possibilities of Internet access and other technological resources for effective learning, so that each individual student may gather and share information irrespective of challenges (the digital divide) faced (Bell, 2011 ; Kop and Hill, 2008 ). In other words, for effective e-learning to occur even if students are at home, access to the Internet and technological resources should be made available so that they may make connections amongst themselves and the lecturers, irrespective of hindrances faced.

Siemens (2005) further argues that in connectivism, students are not taken as a blank slate or passive recipients of information but are taken as active participants who can nurture, maintain, and traverse network connections to access, share and use information for learning. In order to ensure this, Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ) propose eight principles guiding connectivist learning, as depicted in Table 1 overleaf, which are according to this study are now conceptualised to form dichotomies between F2F learning and e-learning. These principles draw from basic learning frameworks (behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism) to incorporate both subject and social experiences for learning. Traditionally, learning is believed to be occurring when the lecturer provides a stimulus (teacher-centred activities) so that students can respond, but the rapid development and implementation of new technologies seeks learning to be individually and socially constructed by students (learner-centred activities) to maintain a diversity of ideas. This suggests that digital learning is more participatory and effective than traditional learning because it seeks lecturers to engage students in a dialogue for social construction of knowledge (Downes, 2010 ). Moreover, Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ) agree with Anderson ( 2016 ) that learning is about creating and connecting to a community (node) of learning within a network. This connection does not only take place within a learning institution, but can also be online so that students at home or in their residences can access learning. In other words, connectivism prioritises e-learning as the first and best option for students to access learning, if there are forceful or compelling conditions that hinder face-to-face learning.

Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ) further argue in principle that traditional resources such as books, chats, chalkboard and others form the core of learning, but the digital age needs them to be supplemented by modern resources like the Internet, computers, mobile phones and others for students to make connections and share information amongst themselves and others. In other words, modern resources enhance active student participation and the capacity to know more; thus the active student has the ability to use resources provided to seek out current information from primary and secondary resources, as compared to being a passive student (Downes, 2010 ). This suggests that in connectivist learning, it is not enough for a student to depend only on the prescribed readings, taught content, consultation with one lecturer and students in a particular subject/module. However, connectivists seek students to enjoy exploring the world in order to connect with other people outside the normal context, through the use of search engines, social media and other means, because learning is about not only knowledge consumption but construction (Anderson, 2016 ).

The manner in which students are assessed depends on the ability to see connections between subject fields, ideas, and concepts (Siemens and Downes, 2009 ). In other words, assessment must be made enjoyable to students because it is not done for the purpose of grading but for developmental purposes (Black and William, 2009 ). The content (objectives) taught during the official time in the lecture may change over time, based on new contributions in a subject; this requires students to be driven by a professional and social rationale in making decisions as to what to learn and how to make meaning out of it (Downes, 2010 ). Therefore, just lecture contact time is not enough for students, and it should be supplemented with students’ extra time so that learning outcomes can be achieved.

Furthermore, review of research done by Damşa et al. ( 2015 ) on quality in Norwegian Higher Education, outlines dichotomous aspect of F2F learning and e-learning. The study aimed at identified important contributors to enhance of quality learning in higher education, and to identify the knowledge gaps in the literature. It was found that, in as much as both platforms (F2F learning and e-learning) share the same aspect in communication, collaboration, and supervision and interaction. However, e-learning provides much of these aspect than F2F learning since it creates more intense atmosphere from synchronous to asynchronous teaching and learning aspect. This suggests that the development use of educational technology (videos, smart phones, learning management systems and social media sites) raises quality learning on e-learning as compared to F2F environment. Thus, e-learning advocates for student-centredness versus teacher-centeredness in teaching and learning of the content because “students learn together online, support mechanisms such as guiding questions generally influence the way students interact…” (Damşa et al., 2015 , p. 56).

Review of the literature: technology in and of learning in a digital age

While there are various definitions of educational technology, a narrow definition refers to educational technology as “the effective use of technological tools in teaching and learning” by bringing in students’ experiences (Govender’ and Khoza, 2017 , p. 67). These studies (Amory, 2010 ; Khoza, 2019b ) are pessimistic in tone, further pioneering the most narrow and concise definition of educational technology, that it is there because of technology in education (software and hardware resources in learning) and technology of education (pedagogical resources in learning). Thus, according to the context of this study, educational technology is all physical resources and online resources used in learning, and ideological resources behind the use of both physical resources and online resources.

Nocar et al. ( 2016 ) conducted a qualitative case study in China and the Czech Republic to outline the importance of physical resources. Findings outlined that the use of both traditional physical resources and modern physical resources for teaching display a fruitful result for students’ knowledge acquisition. Moreover, some scholars believe that traditional physical resources (traditional education), like stationary desks, books, chalkboard and others, enhance students’ task to memorise and recite content during learning, and its use still symbolises the principle of slavery (Cuban, 1986 ; Freire, 1972 ). However, the use of traditional physical resources promotes a teacher-centred method, which is the most direct and effective way for teaching students because it provides face-to-face interaction (Hoadley and Jansen, 2014 ). As such, Liu and Long ( 2014 ) further argue that traditional physical resources, sometimes referred to as ‘old technology’ (television, chats, radio, posters and others) is irreplaceable and the cornerstone of every learning institution, even if the current discourse demands the use of modern physical resources.

Furthermore, the importance and usage of modern physical resources (technological tools) is witnessed in every corner of each university. A study conducted by Keengwe, Onchwari, and Wachira ( 2008 ), to provide a literature review on the use of modern physical resources (computers, mobile phones and others) for teaching and learning university courses, affirmed this. The study outlined that modern physical resources provide opportunities to support students’ learning and need good and strategic planning for maximum integration into the curriculum. Consequently, in the past two decades universities have begun to integrate modern physical resources into the curriculum for effective learning (Khoza, 2019a ; Mpungose’, 2019a ). This suggests that students should be provided with relevant technological devices, which may include but are not limited to netbooks, iPads, webcams, laptops and desktop computers, mobile phones and others. These kinds of new technology have made life easier for students, because they would find notes and all course information stored electronically and easily accessible (Amory, 2010 ; Waghid, 2018 ). In other words, that the accessibility of modern physical resources give students options to use any available resources in order to access online resources.

van de Heyde and Siebrits ( 2019 ) revealed that online resources are software resources in education that help physical resources to communicate learning. This includes but is not limited to application software packages (Microsoft Office 365), Internet browsers (Firefox, Chrome), social media sites (Twitter, Facebook), and learning management systems (Moodle, Canvas) (Anderson, 2016 ; Bates, 2018 ). In the context of this study, the focus is more on learning management systems and social media sites to enhance e-learning. As such, the importance of e-learning is witnessed in study conducted Swinnerton et al. ( 2018 ) in unbundled University project exploring digitalisation and marketisation of higher education in both United Kingdom and South Africa. The study revealed that irrespective of existing inequalities, but the use of e-learning for teaching and learning university courses is significantly the effective way to ensure relationships between universities and private sector. In other words, if students does not have access to technological resources for e-learning they are less likely to be unemployed after receiving their qualification because of the lack of technological skills applicable in the workspace.

Cavus and Zabadi ( 2014 ) argue that in trying to move away from the traditional paper and pen environment (face-to-face), learning management systems (web-based learning environment to disseminate content) is one of the most highly adopted and used online environments in higher education institutions for e-learning. This includes open-source software learning management systems (free of charge, where the source code can be changed) such as Moodle, Open edX and Chamilo, and cloud-based learning management systems (with a start-up cost and source code that cannot be changed) such as Canvas, Sakai, dot Learn and others. Ajlan and Pontes ( 2012 ) outline that almost all learning management systems have common features, which include pedagogy, learner environment, instructor tools, course and curriculum design, administrator tools, and technical specifications. However, their efficiency can be different because of various factors such as being unclear to users, bandwidth requirements, take-up and maintenance cost, manuals, customisation and adaptation to the local environment (Anderson, 2016 ). However, this needs effective e-learning policies in place in order to address the needs of students and lecturers as according to the recent study conducted by Swartz et al. ( 2019 ) to explore the core business in contemporary South African universities.

In exploring first-year students’ use of social media sites at one South African university of technology, Basitere and Mapatagane ( 2018 ) confirmed that students become more interactive when they use platforms that they are familiar with, such as social media sites, compared to learning management systems imposed by the university. Social media sites are referred to as Internet-influenced Web 2.0 technologies that allow users to create social networks to share content based on personal experiences, education and society. Hence, social media sites users can be referred to as ‘prosumers’ because they produce (create) and consume (share) information (Clement, 2020 ; Ritzer and Jurgenson, 2010 ). Moreover, a recent review conducted by Manca ( 2020 ) on the integration of social media sites into learning, revealed that both Twitter and Facebook are the most used social media sites in higher education, compared to Instagram, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Snapchat and others. In addition, social media sites content is easily accessible because it is compatible with both computers and mobile devices, and this makes life easier for students (Clement, 2020 ; Dlamini and Nkambule, 2019 ; Manca, 2020 ).

With all of the above being said about the use both physical resources (traditional and modern) and online resources (learning management system and social media sites) for learning, but digital divide remains the major issue. As such,Van Deursen and van Dijk ( 2019 ) assert that the digital divide is one of the big limitations on the use of educational technology globally. These authors’ study further argues that the digital divide is a real phenomenon that is here to stay in developed countries, but is worse in developing ones—not only in terms of the first digital divide (access to Internet), but also in terms of the second digital divide (attitude, skills, type of use) and third digital divide (Internet outcomes/benefits). This suggests that even though universities can provide free access to Wi-Fi within their perimeters and students’ residences, including free laptops, there will be some students (residing in rental rooms or at home) who might not have access to the Internet. Similarly, some students would prefer to use other resources, based on their strengths or limitations. Hence, this paper argues for alternatives to be made available by lecturers or university management, so that all students can have the same access to e-learning irrespective of their geographical area, culture, race, socio-economic factors and others.

Selwyn ( 2004 ) further argue that the dichotomous aspect of digital divide clearly reveals the ones that either have access or do not have access to technological resources, and this influence the status of connectedness (either connected or not connected). The latter author assert that this situation is termed as ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. Consequently, the latter author concludes that the digital divide is a critical issue in higher education landscape that is not just technological but it is also social, economic, cultural and political. This suggests that in mitigating digital divide, universities, communities, churches, political figures, businessman and others seek to collaborate and come up with both practical and theoretical solution in order to enhance effective e-learning in pre, during and post pandemic outbreak.

Research context and method

Study context.

LMS have been adopted by most South African universities to cope with the demands for accessible and more flexible online content dissemination (Amory, 2010 ; Mpungose, 2019b ). In transitioning from the paper (face-to-face) to the paperless (online) environment, the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa adopted the Moodle LMS in 2010; it was made compulsory in 2016 for first-year students and fully implemented at the fourth-year level in 2019 (University Moodle Training Guide, 2017 ). Unavailability of a guiding online learning policy and lack of training for lecturers ignited challenges, which were evident in the use of learning management systems by students (Mpungose, 2019b ).

To this end, from 2019 to 2020 I conducted a postdoctoral research project on students’ experiences with the use of a learning management system in a School of Education. From the project, I extracted a case of 26 students’ experiences of the use of the LMS. A South African University at School of Education offers a broad range of degree programme courses across various fields of study. It prepares mostly disadvantaged black students, followed by other minorities (Indian, coloured (mixed race) and white students) for professional teaching careers in Education Studies and other disciplines. The School of Education mainly offers all lectures in face-to-face form, while the learning management system is used as an online resources depository (holding lecturers’ notes) for student access. The eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the School of Education to move all lectures totally online. However, the majority of registered students in School of Education at South African universities are victims of the digital divide, and this hinders their access to e-learning (Bunting, 2006 ; Dlamini and Nkambule, 2019 ). Therefore, this study’s main objective is to propose alternative pathways to overcome hindrances to students’ access to effective e-learning.

Research methods and data collection

This is a qualitative interpretive case study of 26 students who were purposively and conveniently selected because they were accessible; they were attending face-to-face lectures and then transitioned to e-learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After recruiting students through an electronic flyer, they signed consent forms with details of ethical issues (confidentiality, anonymity, and beneficence). I used interpretivism not to predict what students experience, but to understand and describe how they make meaning of their actions during the transition period in their own context of the School of Education shutdown (Creswell, 2014 ). Through the use of a more explorative case study design, I generated a rich and deep description of students’ experiences, which resulted in pioneering alternatives to overcome hindrances in realising e-learning (Yin, 2013 ).

Students were given an e-reflective activity to be completed in two weeks’ time, two sessions of Zoom group meetings for a period of 40 min each, and a WhatsApp one-on-one semi-structured interview for 35 min (Creswell, 2014 ; Yin, 2013 ). iCloud was used to record meetings and interviews for direct transcription to ensure trustworthiness (transferability, dependability, confirmability and credibility).

Data were thematically analysed using inductive and deductive reasoning (Creswell and Poth, 2017 ). The data generated by the three instruments were recorded and not transcribed, but directly and openly coded from the recorded source in order to avoid loss of meaning during transcription. Open coding was used to connect codes to categories. I deductively mapped the codes onto the set categories (from the theoretical framework and the literature) to form themes. However, I sought to use an inductive process to recapture the remaining codes, which were not deductively analysed during the prior analysis, to form categories. After using these processes as a guide, categories were focused and sharpened to form three themes, as indicated in the findings section

Consequently, two research questions were unpacked, namely: what are students’ experiences of the transition from face-to-face to e-learning and why their experiences are in particular ways when learning online. The first question gave answers to the first objective of the study, which is to understand students’ experiences of the transition from face-to-face to e-learning, and the second question addresses the second study’s objective, which is to find reasons that informs students’ experiences. This is elaborated in findings and discussion section in order to propose alternatives that can assist or allow students, particularly disadvantaged students, to realise or enjoy benefits of e-learning.

Presentation of findings

In this section, I present the key findings on students’ experiences of the transition from face-to-face to e-learning. I articulate the use of online resources and physical resources before crafting the alternative pathways through themes and its respective categories

Theme 1: Experiences of the use of online resources

Mpungose ( 2019b ) Agrees with Selwyn and Stirling ( 2016 ) that accessibility to online resources enhances effective e-learning. This suggests that e-learning is only possible provided students have access to online resources ranging from emails, software applications, learning management systems, social media sites and others. As such, Student 1 articulated, “ I keep on receiving emails saying the assignment that is due needs to be submitted on Moodle … I was informed that lectures will be recorded and posted on Moodle [learning management system]”. However, digital divides limits most students for effective e-learning particularly those staying in remote areas. Moreover, Student 4 confirmed this “… I only check my emails from the community library with internet access because I have no internet access and network service at home, but I can sometimes only receive voice calls and text messages from my phone… ”.

Internet access seem to play a major role in order to observe effective e-learning, but this can never be achieved if students have limited or no access. For instance, Student 7 asserted, “ I do not have data bandwidth [Internet access] at home …submitting assignment is impossible …”. This assertion shows that online assessment is impossible if the students have no access to the internet. Student get frustrated if lecturers keeps on demanding students to meet due dates while students have no internet access. As shown by Student 24 who articulated, “… having limited internet access but I am expected to submit an assignment next Friday, in a week’s time …a lecturer is briefing us to download resources from Moodle ”.

Furthermore, Selwyn ( 2016 ), as well as Khoza and Biyela ( 2019 ) share the same sentiment that social media sites plays a huge role in mitigating digital divide in order to realise e-learning in this digital age. As such, Student 5 indicated, “ since there is no Internet café by home, I use free Facebook or WhatsApp data bundles to communicate with other students …” This suggests that most students have access to social media sites because of free data bundle access provided by network service providers (Vodacom, Telkom, Cell C and others in a South African context), and this helps student to communicate learning. Consequently, Khoza ( 2019b ) further argue that having access to online resources without pedagogy behind the use can limit effective e-learning. This is witnessed by Student 12 who opined, “ I am so disappointed of this sudden shutdown without having proper ways or training in place to access lectures online … ” Similarly, Student 15 said, “W e are still not told which online platform will be used for online lectures … ” In other words, students seek adequate training on the use of online resources so that they can be well informed to avoid confusion. Evidently, Student 9 showed confusion by outlining that “… university informed us that lectures will be online, but they did not tell us the online platform is going to be used ”.

Theme 2: Experiences on the use of physical resources

Makumane and Khoza ( 2020 ) argue that traditional physical resources is influenced by professional reasoning in order to attain specific discipline goals during curriculum implementation. This suggests that traditional physical resources are fundamentals in addressing the module needs in e-learning. For instance, most of the students agreed with Student 23 who posited, “ I am currently depending on the hard copy of module outline and recommended books for studying because even libraries with Internet at home are also closed” . In other words, traditional physical resources like textbooks, module/course packs, and other hardcopies can act as an alternative pathway in case students have no internet access. While it is valuable for students to have access to modern physical resources like laptops, smartphones, Wi-Fi routers and others in order to enhance e-learning, but affordability to possess such resources remains a question because of social divide (poor socio-economic background). Thus, this remains the burden of the university to provide modern physical resources to students for successful e-learning. As such, student 14 asserted, “ …We were promised to get laptops when the academic calendar commences but still there are no laptop, and I end up using my smart phones for correspondence ”.

Similarly, Student 17 said, “ This shutdown will affect me because I am staying in remote areas away from campus and do not have funds to access Wi-Fi hotspot spaces like community libraries … and there are no funds provided for to support us… ” While the shutdown demands all lectures to be online and universities are also demanded to put measures in place for effective e-learning, but failure to provide all necessary resources to students can bring more frustration in the process. Evidently, Student 11 shared the same sentiment with other international students “ I will be suffering to find the transport to go and come back from home … Shutting down face-to-face lectures causes chaos since I do not have necessary equipment for learning”.

Discussion of findings

The adoption and use of online resources in a South African university shows the critical need to serve students for e-learning (van de Heyde and Siebrits, 2019 ). Van de Heyde and Siebrits ( 2019 ) further argue that online resources like learning management systems are highly used by universities for online lectures, but the form of customisation to adapt them to a local context may hinder learning. This is evident from students’ accounts on the use of Moodle for e-learning, where they stated that only a few students had access to the Moodle learning management system to download readings, slides and others during the transition from face-to-face to e-learning (at home). This suggests that Moodle was customised as a depository, and not to provide asynchronous online lectures. In other words, there was poor customisation of the Moodle learning management system to link with other online resources for chatting (Pear Deck), video conferencing (Zoom), and recording (CamStudio) and others (Anderson, 2016 ). Consequently, the findings indicate the general consensus that the Moodle learning management system alone is not capable of offering online lectures, but needs to be supplemented by other online software and social media sites. This suggests that, universities should start to think out of the box to consider social media site as an official platform to supplement learning management system to offer lecturers online.

Consequently, students therefore preferred social media sites (Facebook and WhatsApp) for communication, which were not officially adopted by universities for e-learning. In support of this, ‘prosumers’(students) as digital natives who are techno-savvy enjoy the use of Web 2.0 applications with good user-friendliness and swift communication (Clement, 2020 ; Ritzer and Jurgenson, 2010 ). Findings showed that even if students have limited access to internet but free data bundles form their social media sites account, they could access each other for content discussion and communication. As a result, Hamidi and Chavoshi ( 2018 ) further argue that if students can use social media sites successfully, universities should consider bringing social media sites (Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, twitter and others for e-learning.

Moreover, the findings show that the university did not have any policy in place guiding the use of e-learning and nor was training provided. This situation as according to Yu ( 2016 ) is termed to be influence that leads to students’ technostress caused by the misfit between environmental demands (e-learning) and students abilities (access to online resources). In other words, the shutdown that occurred because of pandemic outbreak (COVID-19) demanded student to have access to online resources in order to take their lectures online while most of them are from remote areas having no internet access, and are still battling to use the newly introduced software for e-learning (video conference software like Zoom). As such, students were confused as to what resources were available for e-learning and how they will transition from face-to-face to e-learning. This was worsen by the unavailability of the guiding e-learning policy in place and no instructional designers employed by the university to provide relevant capacity building for students. As such, Mpungose ( 2019b ) assert that the power lies with the university management to use e-learning policy that can address issues on content dissemination, execution of assessment, and online resources in order to equip students with necessary skills for effective e-learning. This suggesst that policy viability on the use of online resources also give direction to both students and lecturers so that they can know their roles.

Several students agreed that traditional physical resources is the core of learning at the university, even if there are challenges hindering e-learning, because they relied on recommended books, module outlines, written notes and others. This proves that the old technology is irreplaceable, and that it acts as a back-up to e-learning. Thus textbooks, posters, charts and others must be made available to support students’ learning (Cuban, 1986 ; Freire, 1972 ). This suggests that traditional physical resources may be most useful to those students who have no or limited access to internet. As such, each module/course seek the need to have these resources in place even if the module/course is offered online. The use of traditional physical resources for learning displays a fruitful result for students’ knowledge acquisition (Simmonds and Le Grange, 2019 ). Moreover, traditional learning is vertical (formal) and driven by student knowledge for learning in a demarcated environment (Khoza and Biyela, 2019 ). This allows students have control over “selection of the content (selection), when and how they learn (pedagogy and sequence), as well as how quickly they learn (pace)” (Hoadley and Jansen, 2014 , p. 102). As result, students preferred and opted to use the nearest local community libraries with access to Wi-Fi rather than staying at home (often with no Internet) in order to access online resources irrespective of difficulties faced at home.

Most students did not have laptops, even though these were provided free of charge by the university (many had been sold for personal benefit). They preferred to use mobile phones with free network data bandwidth for communicating amongst themselves. In other words, the use of modern physical resources provides an easy way to ensure e-learning, because it provides access to recorded lectures and electronic resources like videos, but it needs good planning (Keengwe et al., 2008 ; Mpungose’, 2019a ). The main concern that hindered students from realising the full potential of e-learning was the expensive cost of Internet infrastructure such as Wi-Fi routers, laptops, mobile phones and access to data bandwidth. Consequently, Van Deursen and van Dijk ( 2019 ) argue that Internet access and technological resources (the first digital divide) is the main limiting factor in universities from developing countries like South Africa, even though students do have skills (the second first digital divide) to benefit from e-learning (the third first digital divide). In other words, the use (ideological resources) of any available physical resources is not a problem to students (digital natives) in a digital age—the problem is the affordability and availability of those physical resources for e-learning.

Towards alternative pathways for e-learning

This study explored students’ experiences during the transition from face-to-face to e-learning in a School of Education at a South African university. Based on the case study and the literature, including the guiding theoretical framework, the study identified benefits, challenges, and other related issues on the use of physical resources and online resources to realise e-learning. Most importantly, the interpretation of empirical data generated provides a summary of proposed alternative pathways and implications related to the use of physical resources and online resources to enhance effective e-learning. On the first hand, findings suggest that students are influenced by formal experiences (hardware), which seek students to use traditional physical resources to enhance e-learning. On the other hand, students are also influenced by informal experiences (software), seeking them to use online resources for effective e-learning. In complication this findings, students seem to miss non-formal experience (pedagogy), which seek them to use their own identities (love, passion, values, self-direction and others) to find thousand ways or theories to enhance a successful e-learning. Moreover, it is proven that e-learning resides in human and non-human appliances (Siemens and Downes ( 2009 ); thus students should be provided with relevant traditional resources (books, manuals, chats, posts and others) and modern resources (laptops, mobile phones/tablets, mobile Wi-Fi routers and others). In addition, free monthly Wi-Fi data bandwidth should be provided to students so that they may access e-learning, since this seems to be the main challenge to achieving e-learning in the South African context.

Downes ( 2010 ) argues that e-learning needs connectedness of specialised nodes or information sources, so that students can learn anyhow, anywhere and independently, at their own pace. To achieve this, this study therefore holds that the Moodle learning management system should not be used as a depository, but should be customised to be linked to social media sites (WhatsApp/Facebook), lecture-recording software (CamStudio), video and audio conferencing (Zoom, YouTube live, Skype, Microsoft Teams) and other learning resources in order to provide interactive lectures (both synchronous and asynchronous). This will serve to eliminate the dichotomy between face-to-face and e-learning, because the learning taking place when at the university should be the same as that which is available when students are at home.

The findings indicate that fully equipped university information centres should be identified and used to provide blended lectures, through the special arrangement of community libraries (since even these are not accessible now owing to COVID-19), in order to meet the needs of students coming from remote areas halfway. The findings also show that without proper planning, e-learning will never be achieved at a university. Hence, a university should have an e-learning policy, intense scheduled online learning capacity building, and allocated instructional designers (not technicians) to capacitate both lecturers and students.

All learning management system share the same features: pedagogy, learner environment, instructor tools, course and curriculum design, administrator tools, and technical specification features (Cavus and Zabadi ( 2014 ). However, the findings showed that the learning management system is missing the personal feature for students that will motivate them to love and have a passion for using online resources. This study posits that in order to leverage the potential of the Moodle learning management system, it should be linked with software that provides educational videos (NBC Learn), games for student-centred activities (game-based learning software), Edublogs (assessment for learning) and others. In other words, choosing what resources to use and learning to offer depends on rationale, time management and goals to be achieved during e-learning. This will assist students to incorporate both physical and online resources to achieve effective e-learning for these digital natives (Mpungose’, 2019a ; Prensky, 2001 ).

Despite challenges experienced by students in transitioning from face-to-face to e-learning—in particular, the prominence of the digital divide as the main hindrance to students realising effective e-learning—overall the customisation of the Moodle LMS to meet the local needs of disadvantaged students is beneficial to realise e-learning. Moreover, the findings indicate that while there may be many challenges that can hinder students from realising the full potential of e-learning, alternative pathways like the provision of free data bandwidth, free physical resources and online resources, and the use of an information centre for blended learning and others, seem to be the solution in the context of COVID-19.

However, it must be taken into consideration that while this can be the solution, students are unevenly challenged, and therefore still need capacity building on the use of learning management systems and other newly adopted online learning software. It is also imperative that university-wide teaching and learning pedagogy, instructional designers and e-learning policy consider the potential benefits and challenges when encouraging the use of e-learning.

Within the South African context, there is a critical need for increased investment in upgrading resources, both in universities and at community level, because of the digital divide. While there is still a need for further research, this article emphasises the both practical and theoretical alternative pathways that can be used to enable university students to realise the full potential of e-learning. Universities need to plan ahead of hindrances to learning such as a pandemic outbreak, student protests and others, and be abreast of the current literature on the rapidly evolving discipline of ET.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during this study are available from the authors on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

I want to thank Prof. Simon Bheki Khoza for his supervision in to construct this article from a PhD research and Post-doctoral project, as well as Leverne Gething language for editing. Furthermore, I want to acknowledge support and advancement from the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Fulbright scholarship within the framework of the Research and innovation.

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Mpungose, C.B. Emergent transition from face-to-face to online learning in a South African University in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 7 , 113 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00603-x

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SA Journal of Education

Vol 44, No 1 (2024)

Table of contents.

The state of education in South Africa

South Africa is grappling with inefficiencies and inequalities in its education system, brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of February, students have finally been given the opportunity to return to school on a full time basis. While some will likely continue their education smoothly, others will be struggling to catch up, and many have already dropped out of the system. Ela Meiring, an 18-year-old South African correspondent, explores the root of these inequalities.

On 7 February 2022, South African students were finally able to return to school full time since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020 . In July 2021, UNICEF published a report on education in South Africa which estimated that learners were anywhere from 75% to a full school year behind and about 500,000 learners had dropped out of school at that point. The alarming statistics have been brought to focus because of the global pandemic. But the pandemic is not the cause of the problem, it merely exposed the existing inefficiencies in South Africa’s education system. So, when and how did these inefficiencies arise?

During Apartheid, South Africa had ten Bantu education departments, one for black pupils in the homelands, an Indian education department, a coloured education department and a white education department. In the new post-Apartheid South Africa, a unified education department had to decide on a new education system. They established a questionnaire and sent it to all schools to determine how much financial support schools would require. Following the survey, schools were placed in quintiles from 1 to 5 .

Quintile 1-3 schools are the poorest with limited to no resources and parents are not financially viable to pay school fees. Quintile 4-5 schools, on the other hand, have enough resources and parents are financially stable, thus, they are able to pay school fees. Still, schools were allowed to appeal to provincial departments to be demoted since they would receive more government funding. 

During the outbreak of COVID-19, I was in my final year of school. My school, a Quintile 5 school, immediately made arrangements for us to switch from contact learning to online learning and we did it with ease since we all had the technology. However, in Quintile 1-3 schools, learners didn’t possess such a luxury. These students weren’t able to continue with their schoolwork and had to wait until schools reopened, three to four months later. In July of 2020, schools were closed again for another month.

As the Department of Education allowed schools to reopen systematically, they deemed schools in Quintiles 4-5 able to function normally with daily classes, provided all COVID-19 protocols were put in place. But for Quintile 1-3 schools, which are overcrowded and under-resourced, students did not get the opportunity to attend daily. To curb the spread of COVID-19, they could only go in on a rotational basis every second day, which meant they would be missing even more work. 

As I anxiously awaited my 2020 Matric results and cautiously hoped for the best, another child who attended a Quintile 1 school wondered whether they would even pass. The Matric pass rate in South Africa is 30%. To attend university and study for a bachelor’s degree a learner would need to score 50% on the exam. My results allowed me to study for a bachelor’s degree in Foundation Phase Education and I am currently doing my second year. It is a different story, however, for three girls in my community who attended a Quintile 1 high school. One failed her matric year, while the other two narrowly scored above 30%. They are unable to attend university and will therefore not have a degree to be employed in a high paying job.

I have seen first-hand the effects school closures and rotational learning have had on students as I am currently tutoring two pupils who failed Grade 1 in 2021. Their parents cannot assist them with schoolwork since they are illiterate. If these children do not receive help with extra classes, what will their future look like?

Mmusi Maimane, Chief Activist of the One South Africa Movement, a civic organisation, has devised a ten-step plan to fix South Africa’s education system for future generations. The Education Rescue Plan includes scrapping the 30% pass rate and increasing it to 50%, raising salaries for educators, prioritising the primary phase of education, reprioritising the budget for digital learning and conducting a nationwide teacher skills audit .

If nothing is done about the current state of education in South Africa, the future looks dim for the generations to come. One can only hope that any plan to address the system’s shortcomings will be implemented soon to avert this crisis.  

Photo Credits: Canva

About Ela Mering: I’ve always loved writing, my best exam grades always came from essay writing. I also love children and want to give them the best start in life. Because of this, I am currently studying for my Bachelor degree in Foundation Phase Education at STADIO. I enjoy challenges and recently wrote an essay for the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition for which I won a silver award.

About the author

Ela Meiring

I’ve always loved writing, my best exam grades always came from essay writing. I also love children and want to give them the best start in life. Because of this, I am currently studying for my Bachelor’s degree in Foundation Phase Education at STADIO. I enjoy challenges and recently wrote an essay for the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition for which I won a silver award.

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South African university students use AI to help them understand – not to avoid work

Professor in Media Studies and Production, University of Cape Town

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When ChatGPT was released in November 2022, it sparked many conversations and moral panics. These centre on the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the information environment . People worry that AI chatbots can negatively affect the integrity of creative and academic work, especially since they can produce human-like texts and images.

ChatGPT is a generative AI model using machine learning. It creates human-like responses, having been trained to recognise patterns in data. While it appears the model is engaging in natural conversation, it references a vast amount of data and extracts features and patterns to generate coherent replies.

Higher education is one sector in which the rise of AI like ChatGPT has sparked concerns . Some of these relate to ethics and integrity in teaching, learning and knowledge production.

We’re a group of academics in the field of media and communication, teaching in South African universities. We wanted to understand how university students were using generative AI and AI-powered tools in their academic practices. We administered an online survey to undergraduate students at five South African universities: the University of Cape Town, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Stellenbosch University, Rhodes University, and the University of the Witwatersrand.

The results suggest that the moral panics around the use of generative AI are unwarranted. Students are not hyper-focused on ChatGPT. We found that students often use generative AI tools for engaged learning and that they have a critical and nuanced understanding of these tools.

What could be of greater concern from a teaching and learning perspective is that, second to using AI-powered tools for clarifying concepts, students are using them to generate ideas for assignments or essays or when they feel stuck on a specific topic.

Unpacking the data

The survey was completed by 1,471 students. Most spoke English as their home language, followed by isiXhosa and isiZulu. The majority were first-year students. Most respondents were registered in Humanities, followed by Science, Education and Commerce. While the survey is thus skewed towards first-year Humanities students, it provides useful indicative findings as educators explore new terrain.

We asked students whether they had used individual AI tools, listing some of the most popular tools across several categories. Our survey did not explore lecturers’ attitudes or policies towards AI tools. This will be probed in the next phase of our study, which will comprise focus groups with students and interviews with lecturers. Our study was not on ChatGPT specifically, though we did ask students about their use of this specific tool. We explored broad uses of AI-powered technologies to get a sense of how students use these tools, which tools they use, and where ChatGPT fits into these practices.

These were the key findings:

41% of respondents indicated that they primarily used a laptop for their academic work, followed by a smartphone (29.8%). Only 10.5% used a desktop computer and 6.6% used a tablet.

Students tended to use a range of other AI-powered tools over ChatGPT, including translation and referencing tools. With reference to the use of online writing assistants such as Quillbot , 46.5% of respondents indicated that they used such tools to improve their writing style for an assignment. 80.5% indicated that they had used Grammarly or similar tools to help them write in appropriate English.

Fewer than half of survey respondents (37.3%) said that they had used ChatGPT to answer an essay question.

Students acknowledged that AI-powered tools could lead to plagiarism or affect their learning. However, they also stated that they did not use these tools in problematic ways.

Read more: ChatGPT is the push higher education needs to rethink assessment

Respondents were overwhelmingly positive about the potential of digital and AI tools to make it easier for them to progress through university. They indicated that these tools could help to: clarify academic concepts; formulate ideas; structure essays; improve academic writing; save time; check spelling and grammar; clarify assignment instructions; find information or academic sources; summarise academic texts; guide students for whom English is not a native language to improve their academic writing; study for a test; paraphrase better; avoid plagiarism; and reference better.

Most students who viewed these tools as beneficial to the learning process used tools such as ChatGPT to clarify concepts related to their studies that they could not fully grasp or that they felt were not properly explained by lecturers.

Engaged learning

We were particularly interested to find that students often used generative AI tools for engaged learning . This is an educational approach in which students are accountable for their own learning. They actively create thinking and learning skills and strategies and formulate new ideas and understanding through conversations and collaborative work.

Read more: 'Please do not assume the worst of us': students know AI is here to stay and want unis to teach them how to use it

Through their use of AI tools, students can tailor content to address their specific strengths and weaknesses, to have a more engaged learning experience. AI tools can also be a sort of personalised online “tutor” with whom they have “conversations” to help them understand difficult concepts.

Concerns about how AI tools potentially undermine academic assessment and integrity are valid. However, those working in higher education must note the importance of factoring in students’ perspectives to work towards new pathways of assessment and learning.

The full version of this article was co-authored by Marenet Jordaan, Admire Mare, Job Mwaura, Sisanda Nkoala, Alette Schoon and Alexia Smit.

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• University students
• Machine learning
• Undergraduates
• Teaching and learning
• university teaching and learning
• AI chatbots

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