Sustainable Pathways for SLP Provisioning amid a National Health Crisis: A Newspaper Review

Abstract

Limited studies provide an analytical lens of students’ experiences of access to digital technology in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as portrayed by newspapers, particularly during times of a global pandemic, particularly COVID-19. This chapter addressed the question: What sustainable pathways for short learning programme (SLP) provisioning can be suggested to address access inequalities amid a national health crisis as reflected in South African newspapers? To avert the potentially devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst still retorting to students’ needs, HEIs must consider a kaleidoscope of approaches and implement strategies to effectively deliver online teaching and learning using digital technology. Having applied discourse analysis to articles that appeared in an array of South African newspapers, the findings revealed that access to digital technology and competence in digital literacy might afford HEIs an opportunity to address challenges experienced by SLP students. The findings reveal further that a consideration of such pathways may increase students’ access, confidence and performance in online learning activities.