Emergency Remote Learning and the Resilience of STEM Education in Resource-Constrained Higher Education Institutions: Lessons from Zimbabwe

The Advent of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an unanticipated disruption in many activities the world’s populace was accustomed to. One of the major sectors which was hit, was the Education sector. The measures employed by governing bodies worldwide meant that there was need to close down physical learning in Educational institutions in a bid to curb the spread of the deadly contagion. This resulted in an unanticipated shift towards Online-Centred Learning for which most of the institutions were grossly unprepared for especially in relation to Science and Technology related courses. A bird’s eye view on the performance of the students from the period the online learning was instituted has shown a decline with regards to performance as outlined by their results. The pandemic did not only result in challenges within the sector, but also opportunities arose from the same. The paper discussed in depth the effects that the online learning introduced in response to the pandemic had on science and technology students in Zimbabwe’s institutions of Higher Learning. A survey was conducted with students at the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, in order to obtain their views in relation to online learning. The results obtained showed that 66.7 % of the students were of the view that online learning had been hurried and not been set up accordingly in order to accommodate the student body.