The Impact of COVID-19 on Transformation in a Speech-Language Pathology University Program in South Africa

Abstract

Purpose The far-reaching and extensive ramifications of COVID-19 from the impact on people, sectors, livelihoods, lifestyles, and typical day-to-day routines may only be fully realized over the next decade. Over and above the health sector, education was also hard hit. The harmful effects of the sudden cessation of synchronous learning for learners at every phase of education in South Africa remain perplexing and not yet fully understood. For students in their senior years of qualification in degrees at university, the ramifications of COVID-19 over 2020 have been especially significant given their certain entry into the work arena in 2021. Method This article highlights how the understanding of the full impact of COVID-19 in the university space cannot be separated from the struggles that have and continue to permeate higher education in South African universities since the fall of apartheid. Results The need for tangible data showing evidence of transformation within lecture spaces, teaching content, staff and student diversity, as well as access and belonging by students within the academic space, has been less than ideal. Thus, despite the writings in policy, evidence of real change at the ground level has been sparse. Although it is easy to nonchalantly overlook a small department, such as that of speech-language pathology, within the larger higher education sector in Johannesburg, South Africa, we showcase what we believe were gains in transformation in our department, until the somewhat rude appearance of COVID-19. Conclusion Despite a notable difference in the digital divide between students with and without access (financial, technological, and time), the promulgation for asynchronous online learning to ensure adherence to academic and clinical competency bode well for some, but not all, students.