Learning under lockdown: Prioritising UCT’s most vulnerable students

24 April 2020 | Story Niémah Davids. Photo Pexels. Read time 7 min.
Students with disabilities have displayed strength and resilience to the change in learning methodology during lockdown.
Students with disabilities have displayed strength and resilience to the change in learning methodology during lockdown.

To ensure that students complete the academic year without further delay, part of the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) multi-faceted response to the global COVID-19 pandemic has been to join other leading South African universities in starting remote teaching and learning.

UCT has prioritised the needs of all students, placing particular focus on its most vulnerable, which includes students with disabilities, to ensure the new, temporary learning methodology is tailored to their individual needs.

Remote learning at the university kicked off with orientation week on Monday, 20 April, to help students familiarise themselves with the online learning environment. Formal teaching will start on Tuesday, 28 April.

According to Dr Sianne Alves, director of UCT’s Office for Inclusivity & Change (OIC), the university’s Disability Service – under the guidance of Denise Oldham, coordinator at Direct Services – has spent the past few weeks establishing how each individual disability requires a shift in learning technique and troubleshooting, and discussing any challenges that could arise.

 

“Tailoring this approach [remote teaching and learning] means being flexible and obtaining the views and opinions of students.”

Alves assured UCT News that she is confident that the Disability Service will be able to support and respond to any challenges once the remote teaching and learning plan gets underway.

“COVID-19 is an entirely new situation without precedent. It is a matter of life and death. Tailoring this approach [remote teaching and learning] means being flexible and obtaining the views and opinions of students,” she said.

Navigating the online space

As a starting point in the online learning process, the university set out to establish whether students with disabilities have access to technology and the necessary software programmes to ensure “equitable access” to online learning.

Access to data and the internet remains a challenge, especially for students from marginalised communities in remote parts of the country. This, Oldham said, was and remains an important factor for consideration while coordinating this modern-day learning process.

“Scenario planning has already taken place for each disability. Right now, the priority is to ensure students who have indicated technological [requirements], as well as those with mental health conditions who require course accommodations, are assisted speedily,” she said.

Supporting students

Oldham explained that students who rely on notetakers and scribes for face-to-face interactions have also been a key focus, as have students who don’t make use of laptops and cellphones. She said in the latter instance that the Disability Service has adopted a blended approach with the use of images, which students will capture, upload and send to lecturers for review.

Students with mental health conditions also receive ongoing support in the form of extra time applications and verified accommodation letters, and carers and psychologists continue to liaise with students who require mental health support during this time.

During remote online learning, asynchronous learning for students with specific learning disabilities means students can self-manage their learning processes. Hard-of-hearing students using South African Sign Language interpreters will use WhatsApp video for interactions and, if data allows, Zoom conferencing to access sign interpretation. Oldham said blind students have access to the Job Access With Speech (JAWS) programme on their computers for ease of learning.

“Disability Service will be available to assist students as the need arises during remote learning, and there will be needs arising that we could not foresee.”

Teaching vulnerable students remotely

Alves said the OIC is aware that physical and environmental stressors, such as gender-based violence and unfavourable living conditions, can make learning from home difficult. But the university is committed to ensuring that students are “completely supported” and will continue to provide the necessary physical resources and emotional and learning support students require.

 

“We are doing our best to assist students with the support services available.”

“We are doing our best to assist students with the support services available. Within this plan, we expect that students will either struggle to quickly acclimatise to learning online, or they will not be able to participate equally,” Alves said.

Therefore, she urged students who require online learning support to reach out via the UCT Call Centre and Referral System (CARES) line (still being set up), and students who experience gender-based violence to contact the OIC by SMS/calling or sending a “please call me” to 072 393 7824.

Strength and resilience

Alves said students with disabilities have displayed great “strength and resilience” and their response to the change in learning has ranged from positive to feelings of anxiety.

“The anxiety related to the extraordinary measures taken to [flatten] the [coronavirus] curve affects us all, and levels of home support varies [from student to student],” she said.

Alves also said that the time South Africa and the world finds itself in has forced the Disability Service at UCT to innovate, and this has opened a “world of possibility” beyond COVID-19. Support systems for students with disabilities remain in place during lockdown; these include advocacy guidance and advice, processing applications for extra time, test and exam concessions, and text conversion for visually impaired students. Alves encouraged students to make use of these services online when necessary.

“The full effects of the pandemic are yet to be seen in terms of the effects on the most vulnerable in our society. Now we need to show compassion, empathy and concern for each other,” Alves said.

Making the ‘imperfect workable’

UCT’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Transformation, Professor Loretta Feris, said it is understandable that students with disabilities feel “particularly vulnerable” during this time.

 

“Much of what we are going through as a country, and as the world, requires us to make the imperfect workable.”

“Much of the support [you] would normally receive on campus is no longer available. This is not ideal, but we also acknowledge that much of what we are going through as a country, and as the world, requires us to make the imperfect workable,” Feris said.

“My hope is that as we navigate this imperfect world, we will begin to see the opportunities, in particular how we can utilise online learning methodologies to support students with disabilities much more than we have in the past.”


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UCT’s response to COVID-19

COVID-19 is a global pandemic that caused President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national disaster in South Africa on 15 March 2020 and to implement a national lockdown from 26 March 2020. UCT is taking the threat of infection in our university community extremely seriously, and this page will be updated with the latest COVID-19 information. Please note that the information on this page is subject to change depending on current lockdown regulations.

Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, has in June 2022 repealed some of South Africa’s remaining COVID-19 regulations: namely, sections 16A, 16B and 16C of the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions under the National Health Act. We are now no longer required to wear masks or limit gatherings. Venue restrictions and checks for travellers coming into South Africa have now also been removed.

In July 2022, the University of Cape Town (UCT) revised its approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic on UCT campuses in 2022.
Read the latest document available on the UCT policies web page.

 

Campus communications

 
2022

Adjusting to our new environment 16:50, 23 June 2022
VC Open Lecture and other updates 17:04, 13 April 2022
Feedback from UCT Council meeting of 12 March 2022 09:45, 18 March 2022
UCT Council
March 2022 graduation celebration 16:45, 8 March 2022
Report on the meeting of UCT Council of 21 February 2022 19:30, 21 February 2022
UCT Council
COVID-19 management 2022 11:55, 14 February 2022
Return to campus arrangements 2022 11:15, 4 February 2022

UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre

On Wednesday, 20 July, staff from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences came together with representatives from the Western Cape Government at the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre at Forest Hill Residence to acknowledge the centre’s significance in the fight against COVID-19 and to thank its staff for their contributions. The centre opened on 1 September 2021 with the aim of providing quality vaccination services to UCT staff, students and the nearby communities, as well as to create an opportunity for medical students from the Faculty of Health Sciences to gain practical public health skills. The vaccination centre ceased operations on Friday, 29 July 2022.

With the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.

 

“After almost a year of operation, the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, located at the Forest Hill residence complex in Mowbray, will close on Friday, 29 July 2022. I am extremely grateful and proud of all staff, students and everyone involved in this important project.”
– Vice-Chancellor Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng

With the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.


Thank You UCT Community

Frequently asked questions

 

Global Citizen Asks: Are COVID-19 Vaccines Safe & Effective?

UCT’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) collaborated with Global Citizen, speaking to trusted experts to dispel vaccine misinformation.



If you have further questions about the COVID-19 vaccine check out the FAQ produced by the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF). The DTHF has developed a dedicated chat function where you can ask your vaccine-related questions on the bottom right hand corner of the website.

IDM YouTube channel | IDM website
 

 

“As a contact university, we look forward to readjusting our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in 2023 as the COVID-19 regulations have been repealed.”
– Prof Harsha Kathard, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning

We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will be updating the UCT community regularly – as and when there are further updates. If you are concerned or need more information, students can contact the Student Wellness Service on 021 650 5620 or 021 650 1271 (after hours), while staff can contact 021 650 5685.

 

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