While agreeing that the key to education inclusivity on the continent is complete and affordable access to data for all, Honoris United Universities' Lopez feels that the value of face-to-face, real world collaboration must not be undermined. While COVID-19 has taught us the need to be prepared for a purely virtual education reality, for now a more balanced approach is needed.
“As societies grapple with the immediate challenges of COVID-19, there is a temporary challenge of physical proximity – which naturally acts as a stress on ordinary education because the physical interaction is not allowed to happen. Yet face-to-face, real world collaboration is critically important in the development of a curious, solutions-oriented mobile mindset. It is very hard to achieve this purely through a digital medium because it lacks the highly personal, peer to peer collaboration that comes from feedback face to face. Despite this, however, we are seeing virtual hubs evolve as a result of the fact that youth are forced by circumstance to come together digitally: this is far from perfect but it is a short-term solution that in itself demonstrates an agility and ability to quickly adapt and gain the peer feedback they need but in a digital environment.”
Luis Lopez CEO, Honoris United Universities
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