Barriers to learning linger into post-pandemic for multi-campus institutions in developing nations: A case of the University of The Free State

This qualitative study's finding reveals the challenges of teaching and learning during COVID-19 that can spillover into the post-pandemic if not resolved by multi-campus HEIs in developing nations. These challenges include a lack of learning devices, increased lecturer workload, use of technology constraints and the need to monitor the students' mental health issues. Other challenges accruing from large-size classes, high cost of data, internet connectivity issues and steady power failure were also identified as effects of the existing social development lacuna in South Africa. The study utilised the social constructivist theory by Lev Vygotsky (1987) as a social learning theory for the study topic. The University of the Free State undergraduate students and their lecturers were interviewed using individual and focus group interviews to gather relevant information. Thematic analysis was applied, and the study recommends social development upgrades in South Africa, continuous monitoring of student's mental health, review of the University channel for delivering students' services, continuous evaluation of the post-pandemic teaching and learning challenges, mainstreaming the ongoing digitalisation drive and stakeholder collaboration towards infrastructure development remedies.


Introduction
The challenges facing South African higher education institutions (HEIs) are often linked to the widening challenges the country is currently facing. These include increased poverty, inflation, slow economic growth, escalating unemployment, political instability and social development lacuna. The HEIs in South Africa grapple with re-learning, advancing and re-evaluating teaching and learning challenges given that e-learning has unprecedentedly become part of the educational landscape in developing nations due to the effects and induced demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the HEIS of developing nations (South Africa included) continue to grapple with what the next action should be after the ravaging effects of COVID-19. Whilst the COVID-19 traumatic effects are expected to influence HEI policymaking and management in the post-pandemic, it is, however, unclear what decision needs to be made or prioritised by HEIs of the developing nations. This study, therefore, aims to understand the challenges facing teaching and learning in a multi-campus higher education (HE) context as part of the preparation for a smooth transition into the post-pandemic era. The researcher intends to understand possible COVID-19 teaching-learning challenges that can possibly spillover into the post-pandemic. To achieve this aim, the study sets out to address the question of what difficulties impact academic activities (or teaching and learning) of a multi-campus institution during the Covid-19 pandemic, and how would these translate into better outcomes going into the post-pandemic. The undergraduate students and lecturers from different campuses of the University of The Free State (UFS) were interviewed to gather information for the study.
Moreover, this study feeds into the attempt to solve the learning challenges that would span into the post-pandemic if not resolved (Wehab, 2020). The pandemic experience was cathartic that students' encouragement and motivation were on the decline such that some students failed to keep up with the learning challenges due to stress, trauma and anxiety from the pandemic experiences (Camilleri, 202;(Okoye & Mensah, 2021). One of the study's significance is that it provides background to spur discussion regarding the future of education in developing nations after COVID-19. Hence, the argument made in this paper is that the challenges facing academic activities in most multi-campus institutions cannot be resolved without the needed upgrade on the socio-economic development currently in South Africa. The data generated is expected to inform subsequent decisions regarding how similar HEIs can improve student experience going into the post-pandemic. The multi-campus-based students in developing nations, including UFS, would benefit from this study as transforming the institutional culture at UFS could provide insights on how to enhance E-mail addresses: OkoyeFI@ufs.ac.za, felizokoye@gmail.com. students' fulfilment, hopes and ambitions in the post-pandemic. The study also contributes to the existing literature on multi-campus HE systems and improving the teaching and learning environment of HEIs found in developing nations.

Literature review
Firstly, in multi-campus institutions, there are challenges of maintaining consistency in curriculum delivery due to the geographically dispersed campuses (Mandal et al., 2019). Academics grapple with balancing the subject or unit's intended learning outcomes with the lecturers' experience and characteristics of each student cohort (Williams, 2013). These challenges are exacerbated when there are weak communication and collaboration between academics and students as well as proper collaboration amongst relevant stakeholders (Okoye & Mensah, 2021), a lack of shared common understanding of pedagogy, proper moderation and evaluation of learning activities and outcomes (Mandal et al., 2019;Williams, 2013).
Secondly, the challenges of standardization or teaching and administrative duplication and replication are also of great concern (Williams, 2013). Freeman (1998) reveals that duplication has become evident as universities seek to establish new campuses. This challenge is at two levels. There is a requirement that subjects taught and assessed on both campuses be identical, which results in travel or equity of subject delivery concerns if different lecturers are used on different campuses (Freeman, 1998;Harman, 2002). There is also the question of replication of the course contents, delivery and outcomes across the campuses (Harman, 2002). This particular challenge is attributed to the issue of contextual specificities and it applies mostly in multi-campus university that has an international dimension (Williams, 2013). Thirdly, the challenges associated with organizing logistical matters associated with teaching and providing learning opportunities across campuses are also a concern (Williams, 2013). The challenges involve scheduling teaching and learning activities across campuses, transportation and travel time for academics and students and finding academics who are dedicated to working on remote campuses (Mandal et al., 2019). Hence, the logistical matters constrain the coordination and management of teaching and learning activities across campuses. Williams (2013) and Ebden (2010) highlighted several issues associated with the logistic challenges of multi-campus. These include (i) distance and travel demands for lecturers and students, (ii) difficulties in scheduling simultaneous online platforms such as videoconference across campuses coupled with lack of videoconference and online classroom facilities, (iii) frequent technology and technical failures and faults, (iv) difficulty in meeting assessment marking the deadline for courses taught across campuses, (v) coordinating and managing extra teaching workload, and (vi) lecturers may have no sufficient expertise to deliver a range of teaching modes including online learning (Mandal et al., 2019). Other authors add that multi-campus universities and HEIs face the challenge of establishing an effective communication structure and model (Campion, 2017). A lack of clear and effective communication causes a delay in the interaction and engagement between students and lecturers across campuses. The fourth challenge involves the issue of ensuring quality teaching and learning (Delport et al., 2014), which is arguably one of the most discussed in the literature. According to Pinheiro et al. (2017), there are quality teaching and learning challenges specific to multi-campus contexts (Nair et al., 2012;Tikoria & Agariya, 2017). Thus, the challenges associated with the quality of teaching, quality of teaching materials, quality and efficiency of marking, quality of lecturers' and students' interaction, quality of infrastructure and facilities, quality of feedback and outcomes, and overall quality of the educational experience for students (Williams, 2013). Recently, due to COVID-19, there are challenges of ensuring quality teaching and learning across multi-campus institutions that include (but are not limited to) a lack of academic staff, learning devices and support (Okoye, 2022), weak quality assurance and control mechanisms within the multi-campus university (Williams, 2013;Cishe, 2014) and demand for quality instruction and delivery in the virtual classroom (Reilly et al., 2012).
Finally, there are challenges associated with variation vis-à-vis access to learning and teaching resources, opportunities and conducive learning environments (Camilleri, 2021). An analysis of the literature indicates that in most cases the large or main campus is endowed with resources in terms of having many key and specialist staff and expertise, well-developed infrastructures and facilities, and better coordination mechanisms (Ebden, 2010), which is also the case of UFS. Remote campuses often face great resource constraints and poor infrastructure and support resulting in inequality of learning opportunities (Ebden, 2010;Okoye, 2022). Williams (2013) states clearly that there is a tendency for smaller campuses to have smaller support services. Such variation in teaching and learning between campuses may be as a result of accessing materials mainly due to slow internet speed, which consequently increases the time to download resources (Walker-Gibbs et al., 2016). Similarly, not all staff embrace or are used to e-learning, and some have limited knowledge and skills in terms of e-learning (Reilly et al., 2012). The variation in teaching and learning environment is likely to make some lecturers and students consider satellite or remote campuses less attractive due to the use of technology difficulties (Camilleri, 2021). Technologically driven teaching and learning can be time-consuming, offer less interaction and limit the process of establishing effective student-lecturer relationships or relational pedagogies (Baecker et al., 2007;Ebden, 2010). In South African HEIs the cathartic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic aggravated these teaching and learning challenges such that many students dropped out of school (Okoye & Mensah, 2021), others continue to grapple with the trauma even in the post-pandemic, many blame underperformance on e-learning difficulties (Okoye, 2022). Thus, the situation leaves us with the question of what the way forward in the post-pandemic.

Theoretical framing
The study adopted the social constructivist theory by Lev Vygotsky (1987). The social constructivist theory posits that individuals are active participants in creating their own knowledge (Schreiber & Valle, 2013). Vygotsky believed that learning takes place primarily in a social and cultural setting, rather than solely within the individual (Schreiber & Valle, 2013). Hence, the theory focuses on people who are learning and sharing knowledge primarily through interaction with their peers, teachers or more intelligible person(s) as facilitators. The work of the teacher is to stimulate, harmonise and facilitate the flow of the conversation or knowledge sharing (Powell & Kalina, 2009). The theory suggests that successful teaching and learning is dependent on interpersonal interaction and discussion of the students, their understanding of the topic under discussion and the learning environment (Vygotsky, 1987). The need to focus on student-centred learning remains an important contribution of constructivism (Kukla, 2013). Hence, to drive transformational education reform, increase access and inclusiveness, in the context of e-learning, the focus must be on the students (Okoye, 2022;Powell & Kalina, 2009). Social constructivist theory encapsulates learning methods such as mastery learning, problem-based learning, student-centred learning and collaboration hence widely applied for studying traditional face-to-face learning environments (Kukla, 2013;Powell & Kalina, 2009;Vygotsky, 1987). In this study, the theory enables the researcher to investigate the difficulties impacting academic activities during COVID-19 which are likely to span into the post-pandemic. It also provides the background that allowed for rigorous inquiry, discussion and understanding of the teaching and learning plights of the students as they negotiate and share knowledge in an induced COVID-19 crisis.

Methodology
This study was based at the University of The Free State in South Africa. The individual and focus group interviews were conducted online using Blackboard, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams. There were no face-to-face interviews as recommended by the research ethics council of the University due to the COVID-19 protocols. A sample was drawn from the undergraduate students who were enrolled at the various campuses of the University. The phenomenological approach was used to investigate the difficulties underpinning their teaching and learning experiences. A phenomenology is a form of qualitative research that focuses on the study of an individual's lived experiences within their world (Cohen et al., 2007).
Ethical approval was sought and obtained from the University of Free State research ethics council before the beginning of the study. This is to enable the researcher to schedule, organise and conduct the interviews (Creswell, 2013). The data collection took between seven to eight weeks. The individual interviews of both students and lecturers took between 45 and 55 min each. The focus group interviews for the students lasted up to 90 min each; 79 students and 37 staff participated. Purposive and snowball sampling was utilised to recruit the student participants, whilst only purposive sampling was applied to recruit lecturers. Purposive sampling involves the intentional selection of participants who are believed to have appropriate information that would assist in answering a specific research question (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). Snowball involves identifying potential participants through other participants (Creswell, 2013), it was utilised following the difficulties of getting student participants to turn up for the interviews. The staff were invited to participate from all the Faculties across the UFS multi-campuses. The staff were regarded as teaching employees who spend at least 50% of their official time on duty teaching, doing research work or administrative work such as heads of departments. The sampling is thus tabulated as follows:

4.1.
The study utilised thematic analyses which is an approach to qualitative data analysis that enables researchers to generate new insights and concepts derived through active reflexivity (Creswell, 2013). Reflexibility allows a researcher's subjective experience plays a central role in making meaning of the data (Creswell, 2013). In this study, thematic analysis allows the researcher to use an interpretive power through the lenses of the theoretical frameworks to identify patterns and meaning across transcribed data and phenomena. This involves the process of reading through a data set (such as transcripts from in-depth interviews), identifying and coding existing patterns (Cohen et al., 2007). Data was coded and presented in themes using the sub-research questions which they address. The letters 'L' and 'S' were used to represent lecturers' and students' comments respectively vis-à-vis the themes addressed by the comments (see Table 1).

Findings
The study findings were categorised into two sections using the subresearch questions of the study.
SECTION 1: (What are the students' perspectives regarding the academic challenges they face at UFS multi-campuses during the pandemic?) To answer this question, the following themes arose.
a. Dilemma of differentiating what is professional from leniency: The student participants raised the issue that most lecturers seemed overburdened and hence mentally overpowered by the situations such that circumstances that warrant necessary concession or tolerance were easily considered lenient by most lecturers and unfair to other students. S18-Even the lecturers show signs of fatigue and overstrained when dealing with us (students) …. they are focusing on their own things and can be fussy sometimes with attending to the students …. S10-There is only one lecturer who supports …. I have met two other lecturers that were not here just to lecture but also to act as supportive structures…my lecturer for microbiology, Dr … …. some lecturers would not even care about your concerns as a student, they are just suspicious of everything that comes from the students ….some lecturers saw students' concerns as mere excuses. The students are traumatised big time and even after this pandemic, this still going to be a concern.
b. Student satisfaction needs continuous monitoring: Following the above theme participants questioned whether the university takes the real plights of its students seriously on its various campuses. Hence, student satisfaction needs continuous monitoring even after the pandemic as well as how students' services are structured and communicated or socialised: S27-there are instances in which the students' lives are not taken into consideration. So, I do not think anyone who understands the plight of a student on campus has taken into serious consideration whether the University cares or understands that the students have to travel about 3 km for them to get anything to eat …. For instance, for all the time that I have been on this South campus, the cafeteria has been closed …. S2-I felt like the University is not aware that we are paying customers here …. I chose this University because of the tranquillity around this part of the country…here is not as busy as other South African cities, crime is low, and it is quiet here, but when you complain nobody takes you seriously ….
c. Fear of underperformance due to e-learning challenges The participants emphasized their fear of underperforming in their studies due to resource constraints and a lack of necessary technological devices. Unless this is resolved going into the post-pandemic a challenge because education is not expected to return to the face-to-face scenario: S1-It does affect my studies because sometimes I cannot always borrow my friend's laptop to do my schoolwork, because they too were using the devices, I had to always use my cellphone ….S14-Due to my dedication I have not failed but …. I would have failed dismally…we need a laptop (or at least a tablet); without it, we are doomed even after the pandemic.

d. Internet connectivity impediments:
Participants spoke about the low and wobbling signal available to most places in the country especially rural and township areas. If blended learning mainstreaming is to succeed in the post-pandemic, something needs to be done about this: S10-I had to climb mountains sometimes in the night to get a signal to download my handouts ….I am a lady and It is not easy to study in this area even if you have devices and know how to use them …. S4-I would love to continue studying online but the problem is the poor internet connectivity and unstable power supply in the country … SECTION 2: (What are the lecturers' perspectives regarding the difficulties facing academic activities at UFS campuses that threaten a smooth transition into the post-pandemic?) a. Large size classes and lecturer workload: The lecturer participants unanimously highlighted how small the lecture venues (or classrooms) had suddenly become during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to an overwhelming increase in the lecturer workload given the COVID-19 pandemic: L1-So, obviously what has changed is that you cannot have an entire class in one venue for face-to-face due to social distance requirements, the classrooms have become smaller b. Lack of internet access due to high data cost: Participants highlighted challenges associated with access to data constraints as being critical nationally and internationally. These include access and high data cost issues. Going into post-pandemic education African leaders need to tackle the problem of internet connectivity and data cost: L5-Apart from issues of connectivity, data is still very expensive ….We have many international students from Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana and beyond who are waiting to see if we can make a plan for them regarding data as had been done in the case of Zimbabwean students ….but until then, the situation remains a thing of concern for teaching and learning

….L9-I think the biggest issue here is not what we can do as lecturers but from the students' side if they have access to what we can offer online…with insufficient and unaffordability of data they (the students) cannot have access or keep up ….
c. Students' mental health during and after the pandemic: The participants emphasized that the students' mental health would continue to be at stake due to the effects and trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The students have a lot they are going through and will continue to go through; stress and trauma could precipitate underperformance for students even in the post-pandemic: L7-the students' mental health needs have increased more than it was previously…the stress from the pandemic, recent abrupt changes in the education system, fear of the unknown, increased physiological ailments, socio-economic pressure and loss of loved ones have exacerbated students' vulnerability towards mental illness …. L2-the students would be traumatised for a long time after COVID-19 and the recovery strategy remains a sinequanon for all ….

d. Assessment difficulties:
The participants consistently disputed that the current online assessment module(s) are adequate in developing nations. There are a lot of issues currently with the assessment which needs an upgrade going into the post-pandemic: L21-The University once wanted the assessment to be made doable via cellphones given that some students have limited access to proper learning devices or technological equipment such as laptops and tablets …. L11-Here the student can give the work to somebody and submit it without you having any capacity to see what happened ….There is, of course, Software(s) that may be more efficient but these are still outside our reach at the moment, even with the ones available to us, we still are struggling to establish the know-how as the case may be ….

e. Difficulty in solving equitability of access and lack of devices:
Participants showed despondence regarding the difficulty of solving the obvious problem of inequitable access even in the post-pandemic: L1-The students have varied backgrounds academically, socioeconomically and even language-wise, the government too is very (s)low with the rural development plan …. L20-well, depending on how you defined access…but now access to e-learning devices is a concern because the situation with COVID-19 has created more gaps that can undermine or detract from the effort to increase access to education in South Africa …

Summary of findings
The finding highlights the dilemma of some lecturers being able to differentiate what is professional from leniency during the pandemic.
Students' satisfaction was questioned by students themselves whilst the students' mental health requires continuous monitoring given the trauma and post-traumatic effects of the pandemic. Most students nurture the fear of underperforming and attribute that effect to elearning abrupt changes and challenges. Large-size classes, assessment difficulties, lack of learning devices and use of technological devices were also identified as serious challenges. Internet connectivity constraints, incessant power failure, and high cost of data were also identified as challenges engendered by social development lacuna in the country. These findings enable the researcher to arguably conclude that the difficulty in solving equitability of access requires social development upgrades in certain strategic and rural South African communities. These concerns (amongst others) threaten a smooth transition into postpandemic education in the South African HEI context (Okoye & Mensah, 2021). Having said that the corollary question would be "now what?" (Okoye, 2022).

Discussion of findings and the way forward
According to the study's theoretical framework, the social constructivist theory adopted by this study focuses on small groups of persons who are learning and sharing knowledge primarily through interactions with their peers, teachers, or more intelligent persons (Schreiber & Valle, 2013). The theory indicates that the work of the teacher and lecturer is to stimulate, harmonise and facilitate the flow of the conversation (Powell & Kalina, 2009). In terms of inquiry into finding viable instructional strategies suitable for teachers and students that negotiate knowledge sharing in a particular context, constructivism provides a firm foundation. Hence, for constructivists constructing meaning is learning and this process is synonymous with effective community, relationship and communication building (Powell & Kalina, 2009).
However, the findings also indicated that the free internet provider for education participants in South Africa does not work efficiently given the network coverage limitations. Although the government has tried to provide free broadband internet connectivity for higher education students, the issue of network coverage is still a concern (Wehab, 2020). There is an increasing need to increase internet access to higher education (HE) correspondent students that dwell in rural and township locations. Free internet should be provided for all students up to high school level, with necessary precautions in place. The students may need allowances to procure necessary learning devices such as laptops, tablets, printers and other useful devices designed for learning purposes.
Again, the economic hardship and high cost of living currently facing most South African families is indeed frightening. The relatively low level of public funding is making higher education translate into higher fees thereby shutting out poor students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds (Okoye & Mensah, 2021). For instance, some families cannot afford these devices and would prefer their children to go back to face-to-face learning (Crawford et al., 2020). According to Okoye and Mensah (2021), the present government should endeavour to provide its own communication network targeting the rural and township areas. The aim would be to increase access to information, internet connectivity and affordable communication costs in order to uplift disadvantaged communities (Majola, 2021). An important question would be whether South Africa and other developing countries are prepared to embrace this ongoing transformation in education that characterises the post-pandemic (Wehab, 2020). In the South African context, the educational transformative measures toward reducing the university dropout rate need to be framed around new discoveries and empowerment possibilities or options (Okoye & Mensah, 2021).
Meanwhile, mainstream blended learning offers a way out for HEIs from developing nations as it promises access to the student segment that would not have taken particular qualifications (Cox, 2019;Camilleri, 2021). Hence, establishing effective blended learning and creating classroom efficiencies and better classroom management would require effective and efficient use of technology and communication channels. Like any other educational technology project, blended learning requires a robust technical infrastructure and support mechanisms and active leadership to be accomplished (Poonam & Rajesh, 2019). Of course, there are costs associated with supporting the technology upgrade and those who make use of it (Amundsen & Wilson, 2012). The question that needs to be answered is whether (South) Africa is ready to undertake this journey or the task that lies ahead (Okoye, 2022). What would the government do to drive this transformation going forward into the post-pandemic? According to Amundsen and Wilson (2012), the term development is vital in today's education and commerce. In the South African context, certain factors have a huge influence on the subject of education and development or the lack thereof.
Moreover, development as used here refers to economic development (i.e., development of the individual per capita or standards of living). The common assumption in developing nations is that an increase in economic growth would translate into economic development but that does not happen automatically, the first thing must happen first (Majola, 2021). The first thing must happen first (Okoye & Mensah, 2021). The ravaging effects of COVID-19 have made information accessibility completely data-intensive and highly important for all sectors of the economy (Camilleri, 2021). There must be access to reliable and affordable internet connectivity, communication and data cost.
Globally, South Africa is the second most expensive country after Brazil in terms of data and communication costs (Majola, 2021;Okoye & Mensah, 2021). Without addressing this issue, it would be difficult for HEIs of developing countries to cope with the post-pandemic learning challenges (Camilleri, 2021). In terms of ensuring effective online teaching and learning in the post-pandemic digitalisation, efficient distance learning and running of the multi-campus model, the communication and network coverage of the country needs to expand and improve (Mandal et al., 2019;Okoye, 2022). The substantive change in the fundamental economic process would be for the present government to provide its communication network targeting the rural and township areas and reduce communication (or data) costs (Majola, 2021).

UFS' updates, Vision and transformative plan
The recent UFS report document titled "Widening and Accelerating the Scope of Transformation: Strategic Plan: 2018-2022" stipulates UFS's cardinal vision which focuses on identifying needed areas of institutional cultural change and how to implement this change. The University is clear regarding its vision and direction prior to COVID-19. Regarding the unavoidably anticipated post-pandemic challenges, UFS Council in September 2022 adopted Vision 130, which sets out the strategic intent to reposition the institution towards 2034 (see UFS-APP 2023 to 2028). Thus, Vision 130 commits the University to competitively strengthen its reputation as a university of excellence following its impactful vision and support to societal development by inspiring excellence and transforming lives through quality, impact and care (UFS-APP 2023 to 2028). The Strategic Plan of 2023-2028 and Integrated Planning of 2023-2034 are more of the road map. The Strategic Plan 2023 to 2028 sets out the goals, objectives, and aspirations that have been disaggregated into activities and measurable performance indicators in this first three-year rolling Annual Performance Plan (APP). The three-year rolling APP of 2023-2025 allows the University to prioritise its choices towards shaping the kind of University it is as encapsulated in its Vision 130 and Strategic Plan 2023 to 2028. The goals include improving our academic excellence, reputation, and impact; (2) promoting an environment of agility, flexibility, and responsiveness based on trust and accountability; (3) advancing a transformational institutional culture that demonstrates the values of the UFS; and (4) to promote stewardship and the prioritisation of institutional resources for strategic intent (UFS-APP 2023 to 2028).
Meanwhile, the implementation of the Integrated Transformative Plan (ITP) of 2017 and Strategic Plan 2018-2022 documents has earned the UFS series of international and local awards, recognitions and accreditations. These eminence achievements thus illustrate the University's commitment to openness and engagement with societal and community development needs. The Strategic Plan and the ITP signal the University's radical commitment to accelerate transformation in the University at large (see UFS Strategic Plan 2018-2022. The impactful achievements have positioned the University as one of the best-run universities in the continent in terms of research, teaching and learning, innovation, transformation and internationalization (UFS Annual Review, 2021). Commended for its human resource diversity, inclusivity and cultural diversity, UFS recently undertook several infrastructure development projects on all three campuses in 2021 with a focus on making more walkways wheelchair-friendly and currently advancing its digitalisation drive (revised ITP, 2017/2022). Considering the focus of this study, the researcher made the following recommendations:

Recommendations
• The University may need to review approaches to availing and communicating or socialising its services to the students. For instance, the students who are at risk or have failed need to be invited for counselling despite being expected (or allowed the right) to come forward on their own. • There is a need to monitor student mental wellness in the postpandemic because some students are still traumatised by the menace of the pandemic. • Subsequent studies should evaluate and monitor the teaching and learning challenges facing students in the post-pandemic. • Consultations and discussions to advance the ongoing digitalisation drive remains a sinequanon and must be encouraged. • More collaboration is needed between the University management and relevant stakeholders in solving problems of infrastructure development, ICT and e-learning. • There is a need for social development upgrades in most strategic places in South Africa.

Conclusion
This study concludes that UFS as a multi-campus institution has shown its commitment to distinguish itself over the next five years and beyond, in academic excellence, diversity, inclusivity, innovation and transformation. The process of achieving this by the University includes maintaining the status quo on teaching and learning, providing globally employable and competitive graduates that serve the needs of the market economy locally and internationally. According to the UFS' Strategic Plan and ITP, the University needs to target its performance indicators and targets aligned across the institution's APP (Annual Performance Plan) going forward into the post-pandemic. The aim is to ensure participation and commitment in striving for social justice and active global engagement in human resource capacitation. The onus is on the University to thrive and strategize the best and most viable way forward into the post-pandemic to ensure effective teaching and learning environment across its multi-campuses. The UFS's innovative initiative of embracing active digitalisation is worthy of emulation for other HEIs of developing nations. As the HEIs' managements and policymakers grapple with and navigate the issue relating to resource allocation, logistic complexities, technological and infrastructure capabilities, quality assurance and control, coordination and communication in the post-pandemic, the government need to partner by providing specific and most needed upgrades to the infrastructural development.