Effects of Covid-19 on Higher Education: Challenges and Responses

With the onset of the Coronavirus outbreak, universities and educational centers across the world were forced to close down campuses and to move toward online education and the use of digital tools. Presently, more than 1.5 billion students around the world have been affected by the closure of schools and universities because of the COVID-19 spreading. The International Association of Universities is an independent global non-governmental organization affiliated with UNESCO, founded in 1950. The association is currently monitoring the impacts of COVID-19 on higher education across the world. This is the first investigation of the impact of COVID-19 on higher education at the global level, with its report released in early May. In September 2019, the second global survey in this regard was conducted with member organizations around the world. The purpose of the surveys was to investigate the basic challenges of universities and higher education institutions in facing this disease of the century in short-, medium- and long-terms, as well as to provide basic solutions to help solve existing challenges. In the present article, which was performed as a review study via searching for the latest information available on the credible international organizations' websites, including those of the Centers for Disease Control, the International Organization of Universities, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and the World Health Organization, the objective was to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic impacts on higher education and the latest developments on the impact of COVID-19 on universities and training centers, and to provide recommendations and initiatives in this connection. It also provides an opportunity for exchanging information and providing a selection of the latest international news in this regard. Also, in this article, some of the latest recommendations by higher education institutions to continue teaching and learning activities during the social, economic, cultural and health crisis on COVID-19 were explored.