Abstract
The global education system came under scrutiny in 2020 due to the unexpected pandemic. COVID-19 forced higher education institutions everywhere to rethink the way to deliver classes or continue offering their services due to travel restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing policies. This caused major disruptions in carrying out normal teaching and learning. The intervention of university leadership in maintaining decorum during the pandemic entailed making pivotal decisions within a short period of time. The aim of this paper is to highlight various statements made by a group of universities from Fiji and New Zealand to present their position, and policies during the global pandemic. This article discusses how university leaders in the South Pacific with a case study of Fiji and New Zealand have responded to the pandemic. It discusses the statements and media releases of university leaders in Fiji (a developing nation) and New Zealand (a developed nation), particularly their responses and comments on the mode of teaching, international travel, social distancing, financial impact, and research. These focus areas need to be priority for university leaders in making crucial decisions in operating higher education institutions during unexpected events such as the pandemic.
Highlights
2020 became a year of unpredicted events where a global transformation occurred in various sectors including environmental impacts, unemployment rates, with increase crime rates as well as the way education has had to reorganise itself
This article discusses how university leaders in the South Pacific with a case study of Fiji and New Zealand have responded to the pandemic
All three major universities in Fiji - University of the South Pacific, Fiji National University, and The University of Fiji - changed their teaching from face to face and blended learning to online delivery
Summary
2020 became a year of unpredicted events where a global transformation occurred in various sectors including environmental impacts, unemployment rates, with increase crime rates as well as the way education has had to reorganise itself. The 2019 Novel Coronavirus, better known as the COVID-19 pandemic has put universities in the spotlight in responding to the call of extreme measures, while addressing the needs of students. Governments lockdown and restrictions put in places around the world have forced universities to think creatively and innovatively to revamp the learning and teaching processes. Even though leaders in higher education had been adapting to technological changes over the decades, the pandemic pushed for creative and drastic measures to be taken up almost overnight to align its operations to the crisis. Universities had not been offering online teaching for most of their courses with the exception of a few. With the global outbreak of the pandemic, university leaders and administration were forced to rethink about their program delivery
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