ABSTRACT
In Lesotho, we caught wind of the COVID-19 outbreak in China toward the end of 2019. Regardless of our intellectual awareness of how small and interconnected the world has become, we didn’t fully appreciate how rapidly the virus would cross the ocean, land on our shores, and begin its destructive toll on our lives and livelihoods. This chapter explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the sphere of tertiary education. It situates the discussion in a land-locked least developed African country, Lesotho, which has similar issues as other nations in Southern Africa. While the pandemic was indiscriminate in its effects across continents and countries, it is undeniable that poorer countries bore the brunt of it. This was due to their low levels of development, which constrained their ability to quickly and adequately respond to the multiple crises that the pandemic birthed. COVID-19 had, and will continue to have, long-lasting impacts on educational outcomes, among others. This chapter discusses the experiences of instructors and students in various circumstances. It shows that while they battled challenges, they also learned valuable lessons, such as the value of creativity, perseverance, and community.
