Profound impacts of Ebola on higher education linger

The government of Sierra Leone has promised to provide more scholarships to students in higher education institutions to help cushion the effects of the Ebola disease, which led to an increase in fees, said former vice-chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone, Jonas Redwood-Sawyerr.

Public health officials announced the outbreak of Ebola in May 2014. This led to the closure of schools and universities throughout the country. By 9 January 2015, the number of cases was more than 10,000 with about 3,029 deaths and the epidemic had devastated the economy.

Professor Redwood-Sawyerr told University World News the “high fees that were introduced after the Ebola disease led to agitation by students, and the government has promised to give more scholarships”.

He said the reason why the Ebola toll had been so detrimental – aside, of course, from the human toll – was because it happened as Sierra Leone was recovering from the effects of a civil war that had destroyed the economy.

“We have still not recovered from the academic year that was lost,” said Redwood-Sawyerr, who is now professor of electrical and electronic engineering at Fourah Bay College, a constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone.

He admitted that although the World Health Organization had declared the country Ebola free, there were still fears in the minds of some people. This was due to the “psychological effects that the people are yet to contend with”.

Innovative educational responses

Redwood-Sawyerr said “education was really shaken” by the disease outbreak. One way government had responded was by conducting school by radio.

Universities too had to transform. “We had to find an alternative teaching mode, and lecturers had to computerise their notes, and posted them to students to create some semblance of contact with the students.”

As a result, universities are now looking at distance learning to enable more people to access higher education, with examinations conducted on campuses to ensure quality.

Redwood-Sawyerr said the Ebola crisis had also led to the lowering of standards in higher education, as some lecturers died during the outbreak with a general effect on the labour market.

There are signs of improvement, though, as some lecturers who were outside the country on postgraduate courses have started returning. “Staff mix, however, is not what one would have desired because we now have just a few professors, with some ageing.” There was an urgent need to replace them, he added.

Redwood-Sawyerr said universities would have to mentor more young academics in order to grow the number of professors. “In addition, we are encouraging in-house journals for the publication of papers as well as online publishing resources to allow more people to publish their work.”

He admitted that university rankings were important. “It gives a yardstick to judge standards.”

However: “Sierra Leonean institutions have been affected by the war and Ebola, and so what we are doing now is to consolidate to see how we can regain ground that we have lost.” Also, low ranking could affect the morale of administrators: “We cannot dismiss its importance and so all we can do is to improve quality assurance in order to prepare ourselves for future rankings.”