The year 2020 has reshaped our lives in ways that we have yet to fathom. Not only has it had a great economic impact, but it also changed the way we go about our daily lives.

What is almost most surprising is that many countries that we traditionally considered to be at higher risk for epidemics, such as in sub-Saharan Africa, ended up coping much better than countries with a well-funded healthcare system.

The main reason suggested is that it was much better prepared as countries and the general public has learned from previous outbreaks of Ebola, yellow fever, etc. People reacted quickly, with the community stepping up, and this has led to a relatively low impact on the region.

A significant change that came with the pandemic was a change of the way we do even the most mundane tasks. Doing business required sitting together in a meeting room, learning meant going to school, shopping meant going to the market or the mall and going to a government office meant standing in barely moving lines.

Many of these things have now changed dramatically. Many of us now do meetings digitally, order online, get papers renewed online or at least the line at the government office has transformed into long waiting periods on the phone, and learning has gone digital. Children and adults are not required to do at least some of their classes online in many jurisdictions. 

With the first real tangible successful news emerging the past few days about possibly effective vaccines, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Many measures taken are bound to end, and life will more or less return to a near pre-COVID-19 situation within the next year or two.

That does not mean, however, that everything will go back to exactly the way it was in 2019. Businesses, governments, healthcare providers, schools and universities have invested heavily in their IT infrastructure and will most likely keep the beneficial parts for the future. The pandemic was a wake-up call for many to invest in digitalisation finally. 

As 2021 seems to bring much-needed ease on expenditures and a return to economic growth, it is time to look past that light at the end of the tunnel to what lies ahead.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP is expected to grow by 3.6%3) in 2021 and people that have mastered the challenges we are now facing are expected to take control and steer businesses, schools and governments into the right direction. 

Having learned to operate independently, even from remote locations, have helped people to take their own ideas and turn them into action. We have become more adaptable, resourceful and strengthened. Now it’s time to take these attributes to build your future.

Like most of us, many schools have adapted to the new norm. The change has proven challenging though for even some of the most elite schools as, according to the Harvard Business Review, only 5% of the college budget spending was on IT.

While some did indeed create a working online learning model, some opted for the very similarly-sounding, but fundamentally different approach of distance learning. While online learning offers a digitally-based online learning platform that creates an electronic classroom environment, distance learning has a tutor sending information and assignments digitally to the students without a one-stop-shop eLearning portal. 

Distance learning, while a reasonably good quick fix for a short time, can leave some students who struggle to work on their own merits behind solely. Also, due to challenging thoughts are often ignored as there is no comfortable back and forth interaction between teachers and students.

Setting up a state-of-the-art digital learning platform and internal system from scratch, even with a large budget, is a long process needs to incorporate almost all aspects of a university and combine them into one simple application. 

Unicaf is collaborating with leading universities since 2012 to offer underserved markets access to quality higher education with affordable fees. 

Unicaf’s partner Universities, the University of East London, the University of Suffolk, Liverpool John Moores University, University of California – Riverside Extension and Unicaf University, offer Bachelor (Unicaf University), Master’s, Doctoral degree (Unicaf University) programmes and professional development courses that you can study through Unicaf’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) from the comfort and safety of your home.

You can start any programmes at your own convenience due to rolling admissions, giving you the flexibility not just during your studies but also already when applying.

Our student advisers, together with the scholarship committee take your previous academic records, on-job experience, location and financial capabilities into account to review your application and provide you with the most suitable scholarship and payment plan.

Having all these choices, flexibility and affordability, gives you the unique opportunity to emerge from this pandemic with the latest in-depth knowledge and take a leading role in the post-COVID-19 business world. 

Start your journey today here.

*This is a featured post.