The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, has promised to commence online teaching and learning classes with its students.
The development is propelled by the speed of Coronavirus in the country. South Africa, with 3,034 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, has been on lockdown to contain the spread.
The varsity said in a statement posted on its website that the “emergency remote online teaching and learning” will begin this Monday, April 20, in order to get the students back to ‘classes’.
Remote learning is for both undergraduate and post-graduate students and covers all the faculties.
The statement reads, “Whilst many students are looking forward to starting the second teaching block, we understand that many of you may feel uncertain and anxious about learning online,”
“We would like to reassure you that we are on hand to support you as we embark on this different learning journey together.
“The academic programme will be introduced in phases over the next few weeks so that you have time to adjust to the new learning environment.
The statement also disclosed that the varsity will be partnering with MTN and Vodacom. This would enable the students to receive free 30 gigabytes of data (10GB anytime and 20GB night express) for one month.
“Wits has negotiated with telecommunications service providers to have learning and library sites zero-rated so that you can access them at no cost to users.
“All lectures will be available on our learning management systems and can be downloaded at any time. If you are still waiting for your mobile computing device to be delivered or your data to be connected, do not despair – you can access your lectures and other resources from Sakai or Moodle as soon as you are connected.
“Whilst we will be resolute in our efforts to recover the lost elements of the 2020 academic year, we remain committed to you, our students who are an integral part of the Wits community.
The students would not be given assignments or tests until May 4, the school said. “These measures will ensure that students are not academically disadvantaged in any way.”
Meanwhile, the adoption of remote learning schools in Nigeria might not be feasible at this time due to the lack of proper integration into an online system.
On April 9, The West African Pilot News reported that most universities have no viable systems for virtual learning. Despite the clamour for online classes, most institutions have no online switch.
The curfew halted teaching and learning in most institutes.
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