One major feature of the education systems is capability to adapt to social needs and the prevailing circumstances of the learners. In line with this necessity, COVID 19 has in some ways forced educators to rethink priorities and strategies for keeping their institutions relevant to contemporary learning needs. Post-pandemic education strategies are continually being developed. Of interest is how education as a profession that value inclusive practice responds to the needs of the marginalized (e.g. the poor, remote dwellers, people with disabilities, etc.) in the post-pandemic era. Lessons from a study ‘Whose crisis is COVID 19?’ shed light on the need for focused interventions and care in using standardized interventions.

Whose Crisis documented the voices of the marginalized people in terms of how they were affected by COVID 19. The goal was to amplify these voices as they were underrepresented in the documented experiences of the COVID 19 scourge. Techniques such as letter writing, storytelling, traditional guitarist song and art allowed participants to express their views in the most comfortable and free manner. A persuasive story emerged from which lessons can be transferred to other contexts, like education. 

Catering for the marginalized in public services is a human right; this applies also to education. Mengistie, and Krupskyi (2021), for example, suggest that higher education is obliged to carry out the necessary measures of adaptation, innovation, and management change, which are promoted by leaders at various levels. The leadership is further committed to encourage transformative changes to meet students’ most critical needs. The important question for some is ‘how the critical needs of the marginalized learn ersare addressed in this post-pandemic era’.

Retrospectively, as soon as COVID 19 was declared a global public health pandemic in 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), countries adopted the international acclaimed protocols of fighting this pandemic. As would have been expected, these were applied indiscriminately. The marginalized who participated in this study were at risk; their life circumstances could not accommodate social distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing of masks. This was expressed by the Lancet Global Health (2020),warning that international acclaimed protocols might be impossible to follow for the millions of people who live in unplanned crowded settlements, low-income communities and those insecure housing, and poor sanitation and access to clean water.  There are great lessons for us educators from this COVID 19 experience.

There is no ‘one size-fits-all’ principle in situations where real circumstances of learners are truly addressed. During COVID lockdowns, in Botswana, for example, online teaching and learning, especially at tertiary and private schools was utilized to maximize inputs and reduce the impact of COVID 19 on the nation’s education system. Formation of WhatsApp groups for communication in schools was a common practice. Education in schools was also managed through shifts in public schools, that is, morning and afternoon shifts to reduce class size and minimize spread of COVID 19. Participants of this study lamented that some of these arrangements were not suitable for them; online learning and WhatsApp communications were impossible without access to internet and ICT gadgets. Great lessons came out of this study, especially for education as a profession that values inclusive practices. These lessons can inform educators as they design post-pandemic education practices that include real living circumstances and learning needs of the marginalized.  

Rebecca Lekoko is a professor, researcher and author in the areas of higher education,lifelong learning and community development. She has distinguished herself as a hardworking, committed and self-driven academic leader. Prof has contributed significantly in research especially in areas of higher education leadership, quality assurance, lifelong learning, inclusive policies. Publications are diverse and include books such as Cases on grassroots campaigns for community empowerment and social change,’ Developing programmes for adult learners in Africa; An engaged learner: A pocket resource for building community skills; book chapters are featured in titles such as Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Regional and Continental Approaches; HE at the Intersection of Globalization and Technology, The Palgrave International Handbook of Adult and Lifelong Education and Learning; and her journal articles are in reputable journals such as International Journal of Lifelong Education, Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal; The International Review of Education, just to mention a few. She has attended many conferences serving as a presenter, a keynote speaker, chair of sessions and a discussant to the keynote speaker.