Exploiting Opportunities in the New Normal Context of University Education: A One Year Retrospection

With all teaching and learning activities online and academic staff having to capacitate themselves in navigating the crisis of Covid 19, this article reflects on how the Sri Lankan universities dealt with pandemic scenario while exploring domestic experience over a period of one year commencing March 2020. A literature survey was carried out to gain an understanding of the existing debates surrounding the topic of challenges and opportunities availed in the crisis. 100 invitee academics representing each university participated in a questionnaire survey administered via Google forms and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in order to gauge the perception among the academics towards the discharge of the university functions and the opportunities exploitable under new normal context. Human Resource Management departments and Learning Management Systems have functioned well despite the crisis persisting so long. In addition, the respondents were satisfied with the data protection measures initiated to address any possible loss of data. A few respondents disagreed with the claim that utilizing IT services had functioned well and that the transition to digital teaching was accomplished without difficulties. There is a higher possibility to revisit and amend existing curriculums and teaching and learning methods, pursuit on course accreditation and validation with professional entities, preparing study packs, materials, toolkits, academic audit and appraisal, review on student feedbacks and making necessary pedagogical and other reforms as appropriate. Regardless of chronic issues such as digital inequality, universities have demonstrated that they can accomplish tasks and retain their legitimacy efficiently. This suggests that Covid 19 has been reasonably responded using adaptive management. All with aspirations to achieve professional excellence mediated by current events and its agility, the article offers some of the key challenges that inevitably emerged. The findings highlight that the Covid 19 has brought about a number of opportunities for which a greater reliance on collegial decision-making between academics and their counterparts, the students are crucial.