About the Engagement

Date: 31 August 2021  |  Time: 14:00 – 16:00 |  Location: Virtual

HELM ENGAGE asks a simple if unthinkable question: What are the benefits of Covid-19? Without diminishing the terrible cost of the pandemic, there is no denying that it has changed the world and higher education in substantial ways. The second of the HELM ENGAGE series offers a nuanced perspective of the way Covid-19 has exposed the skeletal inequity that underpins our sector, but also the ways that it has addressed the chronic obstacles that have long hindered teaching, learning and research. And, as important, how Covid-19 has ushered in a disrupted space for creative practices. HELM ENGAGE #2 takes place on Tuesday, 31 August 2021 (14:00-16:00) where we will host the second of many dynamic debates.

COVID-19 AND AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION:
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE INGENIOUS

We will discuss the implications of Covid-19 on the higher education sector and Africa. The guest speakers will be Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim. She will be followed by Professor Linda Ronnie on the Covid Academic Research Study and the impact of Covid-19 on women in particular. Finally Professor Teboho Moja addresses how Covid-19 has also brought us ingenuity from Africa on how to support higher education in these times, especially relating to student success.

HELM ENGAGE will take a myriad of forms, including less than an hour of top-ups, podcasts, thematic fora and participant-directed discussions, and so on. These interactions will take place on a monthly basis and shed light and add new perspectives on the praxis of higher education leadership and management. ENGAGE #3 will focus on the conflicting roles of deanship. It will also be the launch event for the recent book by Dr Oliver Seale, titled, Deanship in the Global South: Bridging Troubled Waters.

Resources

For  those who managed to attend in our second ENGAGE gathering, thank you for joining us. For those who couldn’t manage to attend, here are the resources from the session. HELM will provide these resources after each ENGAGE encounter, so that the thematic material is held centrally for your convenience.

The recording of the session is here.

The presentations and the links to the CARS study and other useful resources are available as indicated below:

Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim
Professor Linda Ronnie
Professor Teboho Moja

Professor Linda Ronnie also indicated her willingness to brief individual institutions on the outcomes of the CARS study and can be contacted here.

For those who participated in the event, please take a moment and complete the evaluation if you haven’t done so already. It will greatly assist us in responding to your needs within the sector.

Contact Details

For more information, please contact:

Michelle Buchler or Molatelo Motswe:
Email: helm@helm.ac.za