The Role of International Organizations and Partnerships for Emergency Education in Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions: Online Learning During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the role of international organizations and partnerships that provided support to the higher education institutions of Ethiopia during the active COVID-19 emergency period. In addition, the study aimed to explore the experiences and challenges of students in working with the online learning platforms that were made available during the pandemic. Qualitative case study was employed. Official email communications and documents were reviewed from two USA based partner organizations that responded to the higher education teaching need during the pandemic. In addition, 30 graduate students from counseling psychology program of the School of Psychology, Addis Ababa University (AAU) were involved in responding to a qualitative questionnaire in Google forms. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. All partnership and collaboration efforts were important in supporting the teaching need of the local institutions during the pandemic. The major themes that emerged as positive experiences were (a) ensuring continuity, (b) new opportunity, (c) safety and economic management, and (d) working with different platforms. The major themes that emerged as challenges were (a) difficulty to adjust oneself, (b) lack of personal touch, and (c) internet and power disruption. The study provided critical message of social infrastructures are highly important as that of physical infrastructure need during emergency education. Additional implications are highlighted in making education systems more resilient.