Accelerating the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Higher Education: Realities and Lessons from Universities in Kenya, Zambia and South Africa During the Covid-19 Pandemic

• Pages: 151-163
• Date: 01 December 2021
• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Author: Onkgopotse S. Madumo,Josephine R. Kimaro
• Subject Matter: Derecho Público y Administrativo

Special Issue

December, 2021

European Journal of Economics, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

ISSN 2519-1284

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

196

Accelerating the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Higher Education: Realities

and Lessons from Universities in Kenya, Zambia and South Africa During the

Covid-19 Pandemic

Onkgopotse S. Madumo & Josephine R. Kimaro

University of Pretoria

Abstract

Countries across the world advocate for the usage and benef‌its of the Fourth Industrial

Revolution (4IR). 4IR sets the pace for artif‌icial intelligence, increased utilisation of the

internet, and digital technologies in service delivery. Society expects universities to be able to

understand the key tenets of 4IR and provide guidance in its utilisation. This article adopts a

qualitative research method and uses content analysis to comprehend whether the teaching

mode is a signif‌icant factor to assess and def‌ine the status, including the level of readiness of

4IR in higher education institutions. The article reviewed documents to establish the status,

adaptation, and gaps in the university’s learning management. Thus, the review includes

government decrees/statements on COVID-19 related to university learning; Universities’

press releases, social media, articles and/or reports, and benchmarks against 4IR expectations.

The primary f‌indings revealed the need for a proper key stakeholder coordination (i.e.,

government, private sector, universities, and students) to implement a successful online

teaching and learning in institutions of higher learning.

Keywords: 4th Industrial Revolution, Universities, COVID-19 Pandemic, Online learning

Introduction

The COVID-19 global Pandemic has introduced multiple sudden changes in many

industries. These changes relate to how various organisations function globally. Soon

after the global emergency declaration, several countries imposed restrictions on

movement to inhibit the spread of the infection. In March 2020, South Africa was the

most aected country on the sub-Saharan region, with an exponential daily infection

rate and total infection of over 1.2 million cases. This implied that the government had

to impose strict lockdown measures to contain the spread of the disease. Furthermore,

this shift implied that organisations, specif‌ically institutions of higher education, had

to adopt protocols to align with government regulations to mitigate the Pandemic.

This article focuses on the nexus between the application of the fourth industrial

revolution tools and the eect of COVID-19 in the higher education arena. Firstly,

it explores and describes the concept fourth industrial revolution, followed by

reecting on the operation of higher education institutions because of the COVID-19

Pandemic. Thirdly, the research examines higher education institutions’ readiness to

utilise technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution. Subsequently,

the article highlights the consequences of COVID-19 on universities. Furthermore,

the institutions response is based on the outcome of government decisions in

selected countries’, namely: Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. This is followed by