Coping with the Impact of COVID-19 in Higher Education: Responses and Recommendations from the University of Botswana

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a serious health crisis across the world. The education sector is one of the hardest hit sectors and countries across the globe are implementing different strategies to ensure students at all different levels of study can continue with their learning. The University of Botswana (UB) announced its first lockdown due to COVID-19 in May 2020, responding to the national expectation. At that time, students were on a five-day short vacation. They had left the campus without anticipating any closure, with some traveling both nationally and internationally, whereas others were on campus accommodated in the residence halls. In the case of those who had traveled, they could not access their belongings, including study materials, on campus. This sudden change took away the students' freedom and personal control, compromising their joy and inflicting stress and anxiety on them. Their lives were hijacked and filled with tension, confusion, worry, and fear. Students started experiencing the fear of their own death and that of their significant others. They also went through the fear of not knowing what was happening and how long it would take for life to return to normal. Students were experiencing a life full of uncertainty about the future, as well as fear of exposure to a seemingly incurable strange virus that had already claimed many lives in other countries. In particular, they were uncertain as to whether they would be able to complete their degrees and graduate: [End Page 83]