Opinion | After Covid-19, universities will play a more critical role than ever

Name: Covid-19 pandemic clouds future for Hong Kong’s university Class of 2020
Uploaded: 2020-07-02T02:00:17.000Z
Duration: 7 min 46 s
Description: Covid-19 pandemic clouds future for Hong Kong’s university Class of 2020

Higher learning institutions are equipping students, industries and countries for a post-coronavirus future

As the pandemic accelerates change, universities have a duty to make sure these students will not become a ‘lost generation’

Reading Time:4 minutes

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Students of Belgium’s VUB university take their exams at the Art and History Museum in Brussels while maintaining social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: DPA

Tan Eng Chye

Published: 10:00am, 2 Jul 2020Updated: 11:00am, 2 Jul 2020

June is usually a period of revelry for many university students. Lecture halls and classrooms are emptied out as undergraduates finish their semester exams and dive into the summer break – a time filled with anything from holidays to internships.

Unfortunately, we face a different reality today. In Singapore, university campuses have been empty for several months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lessons and tests have been held online, extracurricular activities have ground to a halt, and staff are working from home.

It is the same in other parts of the world, where universities have been forced to close amid national lockdowns.

The impact has been severe. In Britain, the lockdown has already cost universities £790 million (US$974.3 million), with more pain on the horizon, while universities in Australia are set to lose up to an estimated US$11 billion.

But universities have to pull through the crisis. This is because the role they play as a conduit for learning and innovation is even more critical now, as they equip students, industries and countries for a post-Covid-19 future.

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Covid-19 pandemic clouds future for Hong Kong’s university Class of 2020

A NEW NORMAL