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Top1. Introduction And Background
The latest outbreak of the coronavirus, also known as Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has brought unprecedented unrest, loss of lives, anxiety and reduction in the world economy activities, thus, making higher education institutions (HEIs) to re-think and re-strategise on best practices and alternative ways to handle their teaching, learning, research and other activities that are carried out on daily basis without hampering the educational progress. Chisita (2020a) notes that the outbreak of the COVID-19 has caused great anxiety among citizens across the world. Furthermore, Chisita (2020a) argues that globally, countries are facing an implosive trajectory as they grapple with intensifying efforts towards preparedness and response to contain the effects of the virus, considering the low capacity of some countries to manage risks of such dangerous proportions. The latest outbreak of the coronavirus, also known as Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has brought unprecedented unrest, loss of lives, anxiety and a reduction in world economic activities. The above-described situation makes higher education institutions (HEIs) rethink and re-strategise best practices and alternative ways to handle their teaching, learning, research and other activities that are carried out daily without hampering educational progress. Chisita (2020a) notes that the outbreak of COVID-19 has caused great anxiety among citizens worldwide. Furthermore, Chisita (2020a) argues that globally, countries are facing an implosive trajectory as they grapple with intensifying efforts towards preparedness and response to contain the effects of the virus, considering the low capacity of some countries to manage risks of such dangerous proportions. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) described COVID- 19 as one of the deadliest infectious diseases belonging to the enormous family of viruses that lead to sickness ranging from the common cold to severe diseases of Respiratory Syndrome and Acute Respiratory Syndrome. WHO (2020) also described the ailment as zoonotic, indicating that the disease is transmittable between animals and humans. It was affirmed that the virus had been transmitted between civet cats and dromedary camels to humans to strengthen this viewpoint. As a result of the quick transmission of the disease, experts and world leaders in health have suggested social distancing as one of the methods to curtail the spread of this infectious disease; until this time, a more radical scientific solution is still ongoing. Social distancing is a time-tested strategy of non-medicinal control envisioned to slow down the spread of communicable diseases by reducing the possibility of natural social interaction between those who are infected and those who are not (Johnson, Sun and Freedman, 2020). The concept of social distancing has been described as an oxymoronic term because the meanings of the two terms are contradictory. After all, one cannot be distant and social simultaneously (The Herald Editorial Board, 16 May 2020). However, social distancing has become the recommended hygienic practice to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (WHO, 2020). The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (2019) highlighted that the enforcement of the social distancing policy required governments across the globe to map out strategies, including the closure of learning institutions to limit contact, ensure the proper sanitization of the learning environment and promote contact tracing to forestall the further spread of infection. The closure of learning institutions at all levels (primary, high schools, colleges and universities) has significant adverse effects on millions of students who have been affected worldwide; if this trend continues, it will constitute a grave danger to the educational system. Those who cannot read and write may face the devastating effect of struggling to earn a living for themselves and their dependents. However an investigation conducted by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2020) acknowledged that a population of children, youth and adults were instructed by the government in hundreds of educational institutions around the world to stay away from schools, colleges and universities to curtail the spread of the dreaded virus. Additionally, UNESCO (2020) provides instant support to lessen educational interruption and expedite action on learning stability, mainly for the most susceptible. The motive behind the closure of schools will be defeated if children regroup at home and socialize with their friends. The unexpected shutting down of schools has equally shed light on the possibility of promoting Open Distance e-Learning (ODeL) as a panacea against the face to face or organic learning, which necessitates the delivery of courses via online application (Lau, Yang and Dasgupta, 2020).