Insurmountable Barriers to Social Work Education: Experiences of Online Learning from Rural South Africa

Whilst this chapter has its roots in an evaluation of the pivot towards online modes of delivery in social work education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it engages in wider issues relating to the universalist assumptions underpinning a global acceptance that online learning was an appropriate response. Staff and students from two universities in South Africa engaged in a research project with a dual-method approach involving a questionnaire and thematically focused interviews. Findings reveal the profound challenges experienced by staff and students relating to lack of equipment, Internet access, inconsistent power supplies, and financial constraints. This chapter highlights and explores issues relating to equity of access, student experience, staff skill levels, the marketisation of education, and the imposition of solutions that may not meet the needs of the key stakeholders involved specifically driven by the Global North and applied across the Global South. The chapter concludes with a proposed lens with which to understand and determine future thinking around modes of delivery of social work education for diverse staff and student populations.