ENHANCING STUDENTS' RESILIENCE THROUGH STUDENT-SUPPORT INITIATIVES: A CASE STUDY OF THREE AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES.

This study explores how students in three African universities ensured resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic and what support initiatives were put in place by these universities to ensure students' resilience during this pedagogical shift. A lack of student support results in a high dropout rate and a lack of academic throughput. This study was conducted to evaluate student-support initiatives to establish the extent to which they enhanced student resilience in three African universities. With regards to a theoretical framework, Kolb's learning theory was used. The study used a qualitative approach with a case-study design. The interpretive paradigm was used. Purposive sampling was used to select six lecturers and six student-support practitioners from each university to make a total sample of twelve participants per participating institution. The major findings revealed that student-support initiatives played a significant role in ensuring students were resilient during Covid-19. The study concluded that there was a misalignment of psychosocial and academic student support, which does not built student resilience. The study recommends that student-support initiatives be reviewed and aligned with the current trends in higher education and the actual challenges students face to help students build resilience with a view to adapting and growing academically, emotionally and socially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]