UNESCO estimates that more than 1. 5 billion academics in 165 countries are out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has forced the global education network to explore new training and learning tactics, adding distance and online learning. This has proven to be a challenge for academics and educators, who will have to deal with the emotional, physical and economic demanding situations posed by the disease while doing their part to help slow the spread of the virus. The future is doubtful for everyone, especially for the millions of academics. Ready to graduate this year they will face a world economically paralyzed by the pandemic.
In this series, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) interviews students, educators and researchers from other parts of the world to find out how COVID-19 has affected them and how they are coping with the changes. The series also aims to highlight classes learned and prospective positive outcomes of the global lockdown on higher education.
To commemorate Spanish Language Day and explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools and universities, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted a Spanish-language webinar on April 23 titled The Academy’s Response to the Coronavirus: Together for Science, Solidarity and Solutions with the participation of more than 70 universities from a dozen Latin American countries, as well as universities in France, Spain and Japan.
Cristina Gallach, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Ibero-America and the Caribbean of Spain and keynote speaker, made an emotional link between freedom and freedom and educational studies, studies and innovation. “What will a pandemic give us freedom? Science and studies. Only through collaboration will we win this battle. This is now more vital than ever,” he said.
“We will have to take this opportunity to deepen this concept of percentage humanity because we not only represent a pandemic, but also a planet and our values,” he added. Gallach under pressure the need for educational cooperation and multilateral assistance to overcome the demanding situations posed by the pandemic and make a contribution to the common good, while Milenko Skoknic, Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations, under the pressure that COVID-19 does not distinguish between borders, gender or socioeconomic distinction and therefore demands a comprehensive response. “Therefore, we will all have to work together to find answers that allow us to face this pandemic,” he said. It can’t be an individual effort,” he says under pressure.
Mr. Skoknic noted that solidarity is rooted in higher education and that universities can facilitate the exchange of wisdom through open courses, joint research, new artistic training strategies and school alternatives. “We want new teams and new tactics to spread wisdom. “
Panelist Francesc Pedró, Director of the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, explained the findings of UNESCO’s report COVID-19 and Higher Education: Today and Tomorrow, which offers a review of the effect of the pandemic on universities. Pedro noted that the immediate spread of the pandemic has disrupted many sectors, including higher education.
Pedró said that while higher education establishments have tried to fulfill their responsibilities as coaches, at least a third of the scholarship holders and an equivalent percentage of professors do not have access to the Internet, which hinders the good fortune of a transitory transition to virtual education. The Director of UNESCO-IESALC also expressed his opinion on the technological and monetary that universities want, as well as on mental assistance to academics and professors. He also said that universities and states will have to guarantee access to higher education and that the existing crisis will have to be an opportunity to reshape universities in terms of quality and equivalence.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Pedró noted that “While the physical borders between countries at the global point are closed for the time being, the frontiers of wisdom remain open and universities should, even in those circumstances, encourage foreign projects in coaching and research. .
UNAI member schools participating in the webinar expressed considerations on the virtual divide, noting that connectivity issues and lack of access to data and communication technologies are a challenge for millions of students, especially in Latin America.
Other speakers noted that the pandemic demonstrated the relevance of global citizenship and the perception of shared humanity, as well as the role of academia in selling both. The negative effects of the virus on university exchange programs and foreign students, as well as on joint study activities were also mentioned.
To learn more about the effect of COVID-19 on higher education, check out this list of resources: