Investigating the barriers to sustainable higher education in the post pandemic environment

Online education and distance learning has become the new normal since the pandemic hit in 2019. The effects have brought out adverse changes in educational spaces and teaching pedagogies and mental health especially for learners in colleges and universities. This paper aims to investigate the barriers to sustainable higher education and the effects of the pandemic on universities and campus life. A survey was conducted, in which 380 cohorts from 4 different universities participated. Findings showed that higher education institutions faced multiple barriers to sustainable growth in the form of lack of ICT infrastructure, support, expertise and limitations in mobility and accessibility to services and resources. It is important to note that educational inequalities are a threat to the sustainable development of a country, especially in times of a pandemic. Educational institutions are also agents of social connections as well as where social development occurs. The results provided a comprehensive analysis that identifies those who incurred the greatest losses during the pandemic and secondly, the significant challenges that still need to be addressed. Addressing these issues will assist in strategizing new methods that will help revitalize learning in higher educational institutes.