Utafiti Sera on Strengthening Equitable Access to Quality Higher Education in the Pandemic Environment Research Project Design Workshop

Education is a critical social policy issue that has attracted global attention since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With outcomes such as the closure of various learning institutions disrupting teaching and learning.  

With the disruption of learning, Kenya’s Higher Education (HE), deployed different distance learning strategies that included a mix of technologies, making learning resources available online and partnering with different sectors to make education accessible.

Despite this, COVID-19 exposed the low resilience of education systems to support online learning. It also laid bare existing inequalities in access to higher education. For example, it was evident the existence of huge disparities across socioeconomic status and rural-urban populations. The rural and low-income are disadvantaged when it comes to remote teaching and learning.

With its commitment to research excellence and policy uptake, PASGR through its innovative evidence-informed policy-making approach Utafiti Sera1 collaborated with the African Network for Internationalization of Education (ANIE) to facilitate the formation of a research-policy community around strengthening equitable access to quality higher education in the pandemic environment.

For this reason, The Utafiti Sera House organized a workshop on Strengthening Equitable Access to Quality Higher Education in the Pandemic Environment Research Project Design, which was held on February 28, 2022 at Movenpick Hotel.

The objective of the workshop was to generate evidence and support its uptake and use among higher education policy actors and practitioners in Kenya, focusing on three thematic areas: resourcing for access, equity and quality education during and post-COVID-19; opportunities for Public-Private Partnerships; and impact of the pandemic on postgraduate training and research and the future of emerging academics.

Moreover, it aimed to give members of the Utafiti Sera House an opportunity to co-design the research project with the researchers, which was to be achieved by researchers presenting their draft research project design to the House members, who in return provided critical feedback.

Some of the research questions for plenary discussions were; Choice of the research design, Procedures to be followed to collect data, Ethical considerations including the process of gaining ethical approvals. Practical considerations include research & COVID-19 protocols, timelines, training of research assistants etc.