Lessons from the shutdown – How one university responded

COVID-19 is spreading like wild fire and engulfing the globe at an alarming rate. Countries, systems and institutions are being tested beyond their limits due to the magnitude of the scourge, overwhelming countries with the best resources, capacities and medical facilities.

With the steady onset of the virus on the African continent, more challenges and threats are looming owing to weak health systems, an overall limitation in capacity, resources and the living conditions of the people.

The threat calls for a speedy reaction from the educated community in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. While news about countries closing their educational institutions continues to unfold day by day, more attention should now be paid to sharing experiences and resources to help us respond to the threat in an organised manner.

In this article, I relate the evolving experience of St Mary’s University – a pioneer private institution in Ethiopia – in responding to the virus threat, despite having made little preparation for the scourge before the onset of the country’s first confirmed case.

First case

The first confirmed case in Ethiopia, reported on 7 March, was a Japanese advisor employed to provide technical assistance to Ethiopian schools. Things moved quickly after the Ministry of Health reported the case. Demands of various sort for the government to take appropriate measures began to dominate public opinion.

On 16 March Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali announced that schools and universities would halt classes for two weeks. On 17 March the Minister of Science and Higher Education Professor Hirut Woldemariam gave further directions on how universities should act. For many, it was not an easy order to follow since little preparation had been made by institutions towards this end. However, the decision was applauded by the public.

Ethiopia has around 30 million learners in Ethiopian schools and nearly a million in the 50 public universities and more than 250 private academic institutions, all of which represent high potential transmission sites.

The first reaction of St Mary’s University was to call a general meeting of the university’s top management, deans, department and office heads to confer on the news and develop strategies to address the immediate and long-term challenges.

Three major task forces were set up to address: information on the nature of the virus; academic support from a distance; and infrastructural support and institutional continuity.

Information provision

One unfolding challenge in dealing with the virus is the type and authenticity of information available about its nature and the precautionary measures to be taken.

On the one hand, there appears to be an excessive interest in the number of casualties across the globe. While this figure could indicate the magnitude of the challenge and the need for corresponding measures to be taken, it also serves as a source of apprehension across the population.

On the other hand, there is an explosion of information, misinformation and myths that come from different sources and that need to be sorted and properly communicated to the community. It was this challenge the first task group was assigned to address.

The task group identified the best institutional communication channels, selecting the information to be communicated, checking its authenticity, providing translations in local languages and making the information available on the electronic platforms chosen.

Information has been carefully gathered from the World Health Organization, centres for disease control (American, European, African) and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health for onward posting on the university website, its Facebook page and to Telegram addresses.

The university’s YouTube channel has been used to transmit relevant video messages and experiences from across the globe. SMS messages are regularly sent to students and the university community to alert the community to new messages and directives.

The task group regularly advises the university community to avoid panicking, to seek accurate information about the nature of the virus, and to respond appropriately.

Representing a privileged few in a largely illiterate society, the university community is not only advised to seek information and knowledge for themselves but also to share information and offer the necessary advice to others.

Important lessons drawn over the last few days include the need for brevity and simple language when communicating information and the need for translations into local languages which are preferred by the community and facilitate quicker understanding.

Academic support from a distance

With poor ICT infrastructure and capacity, online teaching and support has been a rarity in the African context. Arguably, this will present as a serious challenge in addressing the impact of the virus in the days ahead.

The task group assigned to this issue was led by a university vice-president and was composed of all deans, department heads and heads of academic support units. The group was tasked to identify the reading and content students needed to cover in the short-term, together with the assignments set for the period in which the university would be closed.

This task was accomplished speedily with the full cooperation and commitment of all staff who provided slides, notes, electronic references, etc, to supplement the reading and assignments identified.

The task force has full responsibility for coordination and follow-up with respect to the dissemination of the materials through the channels identified and to engage with the feedback from students. Students who do not have access to university electronic platforms have been identified in order to offer them alternative means of support.

The task force is also planning ways to strengthen institutional capacity in anticipation of a possible extension of the period universities will stay closed.

Infrastructural support and institutional continuity

This task group is primarily concerned with making available sanitary materials and infrastructural support. The purchase of sanitisers, gloves and masks has been entrusted to this group, although the task has been extremely difficult due to the excessive demand for these items across the city of Addis Ababa and due to hoarding by some traders.

Materials that are obtained are rationed and distributed based on critical need. Washing corners at the gates of all university campuses and at identified locations within the university have been set up.

The task group has also taken responsibility for ensuring the continuity of the annual plan of the university by reminding units about their additional tasks and following up on the execution of regular plans.

The need for more preparation

Given the weak health systems, limited resources and capacities, and the way in which people live and interact, it is very difficult to predict what might be in store if the virus continues to spread in Africa.

Many African countries have already halted schools and classes for set periods but one cannot be sure if universities will restart classes after the end of that period.

It is therefore important to embark on longer-term planning. Under these circumstances, the measures outlined above can be seen as part of a learning period for what is needed in the months ahead.

While determination to rise above the challenges and understanding our role as academics are important, it is only by galvanizing our communities and getting their full participation that our actions can be fruitful.

As communicated by St Mary’s University’s message to its university community: “We can overcome the scourge if we stand as one family. Let’s keep calm, get informed and act in unison!”

Wondwosen Tamrat is an associate professor and founding president of St Mary’s University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a collaborating scholar of the Programme for Research on Private Higher Education at the State University of New York at Albany, United States, and coordinator of the private higher education sub-cluster of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa. He may be reached at preswond@smuc.edu.et or wondwosentamrat@gmail.com.