Shifting Paradigm in the Higher Education Sector of Pakistan during COVID-19: An Empirical Analysis of the Online Teaching Experience

The world is undergoing a dramatic COVID-19 induced transformation in almost every sector of the economy including education. The virus has drastically changed the dynamics of teaching and learning across the globe. This paper is an attempt to examine how COVID-19 has affected the higher education sector of Pakistan. An empirical analysis of the online teaching experience of both the public and private sector university faculty was conducted for this purpose. The current study aims to highlight the need for developing tools for effective teaching that have wide ranging applications in Pakistan, an exercise that requires concerted research effort. Education sector is among the worst hit sectors due to the spread of the coronavirus in Pakistan. Indeed, educational indicators for Pakistan and the current state of the education sector indicate a gloomy scenario. Instructors and students across universities, colleges and schools were ill-prepared for a situation where they had to rely on online teaching and other web-based instructional tools. In this scenario, certain areas in the education sector require extensive research, training and application, such as digital education, assessment tools and applications, project-based learning (PBL), and mobile based strategies for developing self-regulated learners (SLRs) as well as the introduction of various other tools meant to enhance student engagement during the process of learning. The study found that the faculty in the public and private sector universities was not inclined towards online teaching. The results also revealed that the private sector institutions were more facilitating than the public sector institutes. However, the role of HEC during the pandemic was proactive. There is a need to take effective measures at the local and national level to facilitate the student body as well as the instructors lest there is a severe decline in educational indicators or rise in the dropout rate.