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From: 4th International Conference on Avian Influenza, Bamako, Mali [Edited]
Engaging Tertiary Level Education as a Resource for Pandemic Preparedness
Vision Statement
Students and staff of tertiary education institutions are a valuable resource for national Bird flu (Avian Influenza) preparedness actions in African countries. A significant part of national preparedness could include the training and equipping of tertiary level students for volunteer or paid activities in surveillance, disaster response and mitigation. Here I describe a pilot project we developed in the Biological Sciences Department at Njala University in Sierra Leone, effectively combining pedagogy with a pragmatic initiative to raise pandemic threat awareness among tertiary level students.
Project Goal and Objectives
--Prepare tertiary level students to assist in national preparedness for bird flu.
--Educate students to monitor the national regional and international situation.
--Organize students to participate in public education for emergency preparedness.
--Equip an information and laboratory research center to develop practical local solutions.
Introduction
Tertiary education institutions, play a key role in developing human capacity and knowledge in any country. Njala University (NU) is one of two universities in Sierra Leone and is an institution of higher learning committed to making sustained contributions to realizing the overall socio-economic aims and aspirations of Sierra Leoneans, extending the frontiers of knowledge through teaching, research and public service. Njala University was originally founded as an agricultural college and has a high level of expertise in animal sciences including poultry farming and veterinary management. The Njala University School of Environmental Sciences teaches general and advanced courses leading to various specializations in Environmental Sciences. Its Biological Sciences, Animal Sciences and Geography Departments have expertise in many aspects of veterinary and human health. Other Schools at Njala have expertise in linguistics, health and sanitation, home and community sciences and other needs of bird flu preparedness. As a major institution with nearly 5000 staff members, students, and dependents, the threat of Bird flu to the most highly educated members of Sierra Leone's next generation workforce is also of direct concern.
University Students are a Frontline Resource
As the most highly educated segment of the national population, University students studying life sciences related topics would be, by default, on the frontline of any response to a bird flu related disaster. They could also be considered to have a national obligation that extends that of the University, which is a national institution. As the country's next generation human resource-base, students are also a valuable asset that the country cannot afford to lose to a pandemic, and thus empowering them to participate in public education and protection would yield multiple benefits.
The Njala University BIrd Flu Preparedness Project
As part of our efforts to make limited resources more effective in teaching, the Biological Sciences Department developed a teaching concept called "Practical Projects" wherein students enrolled in any of several Biological Science Department courses participated in practicals organised around a single theme. This reduced the economic and teaching burden of organizing separate practicals for each course. Instead, the practical elements of each course and their allotted credit hours were contributed to the larger project. In October 2005 we launched a Bird flu Preparedness Project as one of three themes students could choose from. The bird flu project was specifically designed to raise awareness and give detailed practical knowledge about the pandemic to students taking biology courses. We assessed our material and student human resource as follows:
A Practical Resource for Action
Overall Goals
Team Research and Learning Objectives
Since our institutional mission is teaching, activities were structured to facilitate individual learning, team learning, continuous assessment, literary and oral communication, as well as practical skills. Students were allowed to join one of six teams that focused on different aspects of avian influenza. The project was named "NUBio United v. Bird flu" to create an appealing connection to European football which is very popular in Sierra Leone. The teams were required to carry out practical activities in their domain of study and present their findings through both oral and literary products that they composed individually, and as a team. All students were required to keep a laboratory journal in order to be graded.
Teams and their Research and Learning Objectives
1. Biology of the influenza viruses
2. Monitor spread of H5N1 Avian Influenza strains (GIS) due to bird migrations & bird trade
3. Clinical symptoms & treatments of influenza
4. Molecular Immunology of Influenza virus- diagnostics: develop a test kit
5. Monitor of incidence of H5N1 infection of humans
6. Translation of public service information into local languages targeting high-risk communities
Results
At the launch of the project, (Oct. 2005) the global situation was as follows:
--Highly Infectious Avian Influenza (HIAI) strain (bird flu) possibly spreading through Asia-Africa migratory bird flyways;
--Virus is known to infect humans with high mortality rate;
--Significant danger that combination with Human strains could lead to global pandemic with up to 150 million deaths;
--Early stage Government of Sierra Leone activities underway.
The collaborative nature of the activities initially posed a challenge to students who were used to individual learning. A lot of effort was needed from the instructors to successfully manage multiple groups of students, studying diverse information, much of it coming in new on a daily basis as the pandemic evolved. Generally, students required 2-3 weeks to settle into their teams and work out a plan of action for processing information and communicating it. This process was driven by a requirement that each team make a formal, graded, oral presentation (presented by two team members, weekly) which was assessed, live by the rest of the project members and instructor. Once a certain level of cohesion was achieved, the learning curve grew exponentially as students competed to present the best team presentations including more information. The weekly sessions became key learning events as they included presentations drawn from the 6 areas outlined above and involved much debate and discussion around each presentation. In effect the students were doing research and then lecturing themselves (and often the instructor!) about the evolving bird flu pandemic.
A mission critical resource for the project was internet access. In the pilot project, access to online resources was severely constrained due to the poor commercial power supply situation in Freetown-- nevertheless students invested their own money to gain web access from commercial providers and print web information they evaluated as being important for their team presentations.
Some of the most valuable research that the students did was to identify specific local challenges and possible indigenous resources available for national preparedness. Students at Njala are predominantly Mende, from the south of Sierra Leone, but all major ethnic/linguistic groups were represented on the project (13 in Sierra Leone). The participants included about 75% female students due to the participation of a large group from the Home Sciences Department taking 3rd year Microbiology. This group of students took a particular interest in the domestic and community dimensions of bird flu including translating health and safety guidelines for handling sick birds into local languages in a way that would be understood in a village context. After debating the "to eat or not to eat" question, the Public Information Group decided that international directives to destroy birds would simply not work in the socio-cultural contexts of Sierra Leone and they instead formulated pragmatic guidelines about how best to dress and cook a sick bird and dispose of the remains. They also identified local ethnomedicine remedies for flu-like symptoms in Mende and cross-translated them into other local languages so that they would be more accessible.
The project also involved outside linkages. Student representatives participated in government avian influenza task-force meetings, and engaged other NGOs involved in national preparedness activities including the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (which routinely surveys birds in Sierra Leone) and the GIS mapping unit at UNDP. They interviewed fishing communities in the wetland areas around Freetown for information about bird deaths and to assess their awareness of the threat.
Conclusion
This project successfully diverted resources for tertiary level teaching and learning into increasing national capacity for bird flu preparedness in Sierra Leone. By making different aspects of bird flu the subject of practical classes in different subject areas, a group of tertiary level students was given a comprehensive insight into the pandemic and how it might affect their country, as well as what practical roles they might play in preventing it. From a pedagogical point of view, the project led to increased interest in bird flu in general, and students subsequetly chose to do more in-depth studies on bird flu-related topics for their final year theses or other elective research activities.
Notwithstanding material and other resource constraints, Universities must play a key role in bird flu pandemic preparedness and should be pro-active in defining the local context for preventative and response activities. National governments, regional initiatives and international agencies should provide support for such university actions and should encourage linkages. The value of tertiary educated members of the population to the fight against the pandemic should be recognized and protection of this valuable asset made a priority in national preparedness plans.
Contact Information
For more information, please contact
Dr. Eluemuno Blyden, Head
Department of Biological Sciences
School of Environmental Sciences
Njala University
Private Mailbag
Freetown
Sierra Leone
Tel: +232-76-636010
Email: eluem_blyden@yahoo.com, nubio_birdflu@yahoo.com
Engaging Tertiary Level Education as a Resource for Pandemic Preparedness
Vision Statement
Students and staff of tertiary education institutions are a valuable resource for national Bird flu (Avian Influenza) preparedness actions in African countries. A significant part of national preparedness could include the training and equipping of tertiary level students for volunteer or paid activities in surveillance, disaster response and mitigation. Here I describe a pilot project we developed in the Biological Sciences Department at Njala University in Sierra Leone, effectively combining pedagogy with a pragmatic initiative to raise pandemic threat awareness among tertiary level students.
Project Goal and Objectives
--Prepare tertiary level students to assist in national preparedness for bird flu.
--Educate students to monitor the national regional and international situation.
--Organize students to participate in public education for emergency preparedness.
--Equip an information and laboratory research center to develop practical local solutions.
Introduction
Tertiary education institutions, play a key role in developing human capacity and knowledge in any country. Njala University (NU) is one of two universities in Sierra Leone and is an institution of higher learning committed to making sustained contributions to realizing the overall socio-economic aims and aspirations of Sierra Leoneans, extending the frontiers of knowledge through teaching, research and public service. Njala University was originally founded as an agricultural college and has a high level of expertise in animal sciences including poultry farming and veterinary management. The Njala University School of Environmental Sciences teaches general and advanced courses leading to various specializations in Environmental Sciences. Its Biological Sciences, Animal Sciences and Geography Departments have expertise in many aspects of veterinary and human health. Other Schools at Njala have expertise in linguistics, health and sanitation, home and community sciences and other needs of bird flu preparedness. As a major institution with nearly 5000 staff members, students, and dependents, the threat of Bird flu to the most highly educated members of Sierra Leone's next generation workforce is also of direct concern.
University Students are a Frontline Resource
As the most highly educated segment of the national population, University students studying life sciences related topics would be, by default, on the frontline of any response to a bird flu related disaster. They could also be considered to have a national obligation that extends that of the University, which is a national institution. As the country's next generation human resource-base, students are also a valuable asset that the country cannot afford to lose to a pandemic, and thus empowering them to participate in public education and protection would yield multiple benefits.
The Njala University BIrd Flu Preparedness Project
As part of our efforts to make limited resources more effective in teaching, the Biological Sciences Department developed a teaching concept called "Practical Projects" wherein students enrolled in any of several Biological Science Department courses participated in practicals organised around a single theme. This reduced the economic and teaching burden of organizing separate practicals for each course. Instead, the practical elements of each course and their allotted credit hours were contributed to the larger project. In October 2005 we launched a Bird flu Preparedness Project as one of three themes students could choose from. The bird flu project was specifically designed to raise awareness and give detailed practical knowledge about the pandemic to students taking biology courses. We assessed our material and student human resource as follows:
- --Several hundred man-hours/week of tertiary level Sierra Leonean labor;
- --Scientifically trained, social and culturally adapted, low-cost workforce;
- --Existing University research resources;
- --Other resources offered by partners;
- --Njala students already study many topics relevant to the avian flu crisis (Microbiology, Zoology, Wildlife monitoring, Public Education, --Public Health, linguistics, etc.);
- --Courses are practically oriented, but resources are severely constrained;
- -Bird flu related topics scattered throughout Schools, degree programs, courses and practicals.
A Practical Resource for Action
- NU Biology Department courses all include 3 hours per week of practicals.
- Approximately 80 students drawn from 5 courses were involved in the Bird flu Practical Project,
- Project included both masters and undergraduate students from Environmental Sciences and Home Economics Schools
Overall Goals
- --Assemble and review all relevant data about bird flu, its spread, and its specific threat to Sierra Leone.
- --Prepare localised information for public education about the bird flu threat
- --Identify local resources for dealing with any emergency outbreak.
- --Link NU student practicals to other preparedness activities of government, NGO, and private sector.
- --Publish information on the situation in Sierra Leone using various media.
Team Research and Learning Objectives
Since our institutional mission is teaching, activities were structured to facilitate individual learning, team learning, continuous assessment, literary and oral communication, as well as practical skills. Students were allowed to join one of six teams that focused on different aspects of avian influenza. The project was named "NUBio United v. Bird flu" to create an appealing connection to European football which is very popular in Sierra Leone. The teams were required to carry out practical activities in their domain of study and present their findings through both oral and literary products that they composed individually, and as a team. All students were required to keep a laboratory journal in order to be graded.
Teams and their Research and Learning Objectives
1. Biology of the influenza viruses
2. Monitor spread of H5N1 Avian Influenza strains (GIS) due to bird migrations & bird trade
3. Clinical symptoms & treatments of influenza
4. Molecular Immunology of Influenza virus- diagnostics: develop a test kit
5. Monitor of incidence of H5N1 infection of humans
6. Translation of public service information into local languages targeting high-risk communities
Results
At the launch of the project, (Oct. 2005) the global situation was as follows:
--Highly Infectious Avian Influenza (HIAI) strain (bird flu) possibly spreading through Asia-Africa migratory bird flyways;
--Virus is known to infect humans with high mortality rate;
--Significant danger that combination with Human strains could lead to global pandemic with up to 150 million deaths;
--Early stage Government of Sierra Leone activities underway.
The collaborative nature of the activities initially posed a challenge to students who were used to individual learning. A lot of effort was needed from the instructors to successfully manage multiple groups of students, studying diverse information, much of it coming in new on a daily basis as the pandemic evolved. Generally, students required 2-3 weeks to settle into their teams and work out a plan of action for processing information and communicating it. This process was driven by a requirement that each team make a formal, graded, oral presentation (presented by two team members, weekly) which was assessed, live by the rest of the project members and instructor. Once a certain level of cohesion was achieved, the learning curve grew exponentially as students competed to present the best team presentations including more information. The weekly sessions became key learning events as they included presentations drawn from the 6 areas outlined above and involved much debate and discussion around each presentation. In effect the students were doing research and then lecturing themselves (and often the instructor!) about the evolving bird flu pandemic.
A mission critical resource for the project was internet access. In the pilot project, access to online resources was severely constrained due to the poor commercial power supply situation in Freetown-- nevertheless students invested their own money to gain web access from commercial providers and print web information they evaluated as being important for their team presentations.
Some of the most valuable research that the students did was to identify specific local challenges and possible indigenous resources available for national preparedness. Students at Njala are predominantly Mende, from the south of Sierra Leone, but all major ethnic/linguistic groups were represented on the project (13 in Sierra Leone). The participants included about 75% female students due to the participation of a large group from the Home Sciences Department taking 3rd year Microbiology. This group of students took a particular interest in the domestic and community dimensions of bird flu including translating health and safety guidelines for handling sick birds into local languages in a way that would be understood in a village context. After debating the "to eat or not to eat" question, the Public Information Group decided that international directives to destroy birds would simply not work in the socio-cultural contexts of Sierra Leone and they instead formulated pragmatic guidelines about how best to dress and cook a sick bird and dispose of the remains. They also identified local ethnomedicine remedies for flu-like symptoms in Mende and cross-translated them into other local languages so that they would be more accessible.
The project also involved outside linkages. Student representatives participated in government avian influenza task-force meetings, and engaged other NGOs involved in national preparedness activities including the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (which routinely surveys birds in Sierra Leone) and the GIS mapping unit at UNDP. They interviewed fishing communities in the wetland areas around Freetown for information about bird deaths and to assess their awareness of the threat.
Conclusion
This project successfully diverted resources for tertiary level teaching and learning into increasing national capacity for bird flu preparedness in Sierra Leone. By making different aspects of bird flu the subject of practical classes in different subject areas, a group of tertiary level students was given a comprehensive insight into the pandemic and how it might affect their country, as well as what practical roles they might play in preventing it. From a pedagogical point of view, the project led to increased interest in bird flu in general, and students subsequetly chose to do more in-depth studies on bird flu-related topics for their final year theses or other elective research activities.
Notwithstanding material and other resource constraints, Universities must play a key role in bird flu pandemic preparedness and should be pro-active in defining the local context for preventative and response activities. National governments, regional initiatives and international agencies should provide support for such university actions and should encourage linkages. The value of tertiary educated members of the population to the fight against the pandemic should be recognized and protection of this valuable asset made a priority in national preparedness plans.
Contact Information
For more information, please contact
Dr. Eluemuno Blyden, Head
Department of Biological Sciences
School of Environmental Sciences
Njala University
Private Mailbag
Freetown
Sierra Leone
Tel: +232-76-636010
Email: eluem_blyden@yahoo.com, nubio_birdflu@yahoo.com