5 April 2020  Issue No: 592

It is impossible to predict the full extent of the short-, medium- or long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education, but the implications are becoming increasingly serious and mostly negative, and are likely to amplify gaps and inequalities between learners, institutions and countries.

COVID-19 is causing big challenges for university recruiters, with examinations being postponed or alternative methods of assessment being brought in. Potential solutions could worsen equity issues, but the pressure to focus more on domestic students could force a rethink on widening access.

Developing vaccines against disease is crucial; developing intellectual ‘vaccines’ against the closing of minds is no less important. Europe needs ideas to move freely after the COVID-19 pandemic and the European Higher Education Area needs a vision for Europe-wide higher education reforms that exemplifies its values.

Universities should take into account the current economic situation Lebanese students are facing and the capital controls imposed by the Central Bank of Lebanon and try to help them by providing generous financial aid programmes, increasing work-study opportunities and offering interest-free education loans.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the government is launching a new push to prevent brain drain out of the country, particularly from domestic universities and research institutions, with figures showing 50,000 scientists have left in the past five years. But experts are sceptical.