By Samuel Sanya
The post Covid-19 educational environment needs a major revamp, researchers have said. On-site psychiatric facilities to treat mental illness, programs to reverse student dropouts, and to provide reliable internet and personal laptops or computers are now essential for success.
In the same vein, researchers Dr. Jeantyl Norze and US based Ugandan, Dr. Reuben Twijukye point out that students also need personal study space. This is contained in a study that examines the impact of the pandemic on students’ academic performance and emotional health.
The study that is carried in latest issue of the Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice says that mental health concerns, that include anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse have gone up, yet many colleges and universities do not have appropriate on-site psychiatric facilities to treat mental illness.
“…almost half of college students who dropped out had parents who did not finish college. Many (minority) students do not have enough money to cater for materials that aid students to be successful in the classroom and out of the classroom such as a reliable internet, a personal laptop or computer, and a personal space to study,” the study points out.
It adds: “The pandemic has forced many academic institutions to switch abruptly to virtual education. The change in modes of instructional delivery and the loss of social activities have created a mental health crisis.”
The authors explain that students that enrolled into universities in 2019 and 2020 academic years have experienced overwhelming anxiety. The anxiety was worse for students who have greater financial constraints.
Centenary Group and Service Cops Sign Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Digital Financial Inclusion“It is critically important to invest in college and universities’ mental health centers in a manner consistent with the demands,” the researchers point out, adding that students have been impacted psychologically, financially, socially, and academically by the Covid-19 pandemic and measures to curb it.
Students said that the Covid-19 pandemic affected their academic year in terms of expectations, ability to focus, learn, and perform well. Researchers said that this might be explained by the fact that graduate students who were enrolled during the pandemic did not have the opportunity to physically interact with their instructors.
They also pointed out that academic institutions abruptly moved all its courses fully online and this might have negatively affected students’ cognitive adjustment to a new environment of learning.
As colleges and universities find ways to prepare students on ways to cope up with new learning environments that might abruptly occur, academic institutions need to prepare their faculty and staff for the new normal and create a supporting and safe learning environment, the study says.
Data from the Finance ministry points out that the Covid-19 pandemic and measures to curb it plunged an estimated population of between 780,000 to 2.6 million Ugandans into poverty. This made it harder for Uganda’s mostly young population to access education – especially through the Internet.
Samuel Sanya is Communications & Public Education Officer Capital Markets Authority Uganda
