The Rise of the University without Classrooms after COVID-19

Abstract

In this chapter we argue that university face-to-face teaching will gradually be replaced in the future with online teaching. In particular, we argue, this will happen in the light of the Fallist movement that has affected the university sector for the last five years and the current impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, we begin by providing a succinct overview of the history of the South African university sector and the changes implemented in post-apartheid South Africa. We specifically outline the neoliberal agenda, which became the main force driving the university. Secondly, we discuss how South Africa’s new vision for higher education with its neoliberal policy agenda is nudging the university in the direction of online tuition. Thirdly, we examine the infrastructural readiness of universities for online teaching. We conclude by arguing that the financial constraints and global pressures imposed on the tertiary education sector have forced the university to implement cost-cutting measures by looking for cheaper modes of programme delivery to survive in an already financially challenging space.