Measures to Enhance Student Learning and Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives of Students from a Historically Disadvantaged University

Abstract

Since December 2019, the world population has been battling with the SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-2019) pandemic. The pandemic has continued to impact negatively on people’s livelihoods and also on student’s education. This qualitative study established from students in a previously disadvantaged university, their challenges and needs pursuant to the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown in South Africa. A total of 312 (male = 141; female = 171) registered students were conveniently sampled and completed an online survey questionnaire. Thematically analysed data revealed that student education and health have been impacted since the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown. Participants went on to recommend several measures which, if implemented, could improve their well-being and access to education. Study findings imply that students from previously disadvantaged universities, who in their majority are from impoverished rural communities, have been struggling to access remote learning due to amongst others, the lack of information and communication technology (ICT) devices and network connectivity problems. It, therefore, requires rural-based universities to work together with the government and the private sector and join hands in addressing student challenges and needs during the on-going lockdown in the country. This would be one way of ensuring that in spite of students’ socioeconomic status, cultural location or background, their right to education is protected.

Conditions and Determinants of Distance Education for Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Evaluation in the Kuyavia-Pomerania Region in Poland

“…The study attempted to answer a number of questions, including how the school responds when male and female students are in crisis, and whether teachers have been provided with adequate knowledge and support to recognise crises in a timely manner and, most importantly, to develop the ability to respond appropriately in difficult situations [15]. Governmental and private sector support for education is also important, as evidenced by research in South Africa [16]. A challenge for Kosovo, for example, is access to the Internet and devices in rural areas and socioemotional support for teachers.…”

The Contribution of Information and Communication Technology to Social Inclusion and Exclusion during the Appropriation of Open Educational Resources

“…Also, OER have been proved to promote e-learning. Such findings affirm that an ODeL institution, as well as any other South African university, does well in establishing an ICT infrastructure for its employees and academics, for purposes of educational processing (Anifowoshe et al, 2020;Makgahlela et al, 2021). The above might indicate that South African universities tend to be the forerunners in terms of providing facilities and infrastructures on the African continent (Dodoo, Al-Samarraie & Alzahrani, 2021;Phale, Fanglin, Adjei Mensah, Omari-Sasu & Musah, 2021).…”

“…In short, the appropriation of OER is not free in the developing countries. The findings of the current study show that the adoption, development and utilisation of OER cannot be described as being freely available in South Africa, or in any other developing country, as the issue of ICT infrastructure and internet connectivity and access remains a challenge (Mncube, 2020;Makgahlela et al, 2021). Only once the issues of inequality and of ICT social exclusion are addressed and resolved might it become possible to affirm that OER are a free resource within the developing context.…”

“…In the context of higher education, even if universities were to improve their online systems of teaching, learning and research (Makgahlela, Mothiba, Mokwena & Mphekgwana, 2021), in many instances doing so would still not suffice for some students who lack access to an efficient ICT infrastructure at home (Anifowoshe, Aborode, Ayodele, Iretiayo & David, 2020). The fact remains that many of the students who are flocking to higher education institutions in South Africa, still lack the necessary ICT skills and access due to them coming from the rural areas and townships.…”

Studying Abroad from Home: An Exploration of International Graduate Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of Emergency Remote Teaching

“…Higher education in many countries was forced to switch to ERT on that day or roughly around the same time. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a growing body of literature that explores students' ERT experiences in many parts of the world such as Jordan [4], the US [5], Serbia [6], South Africa [7], Slovakia [8], the UK [9,10], and Hong Kong [11]. However, these studies focus on students in general with no special attention to international students.…”