Abstract
Although the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education and mental health of the university environment is relatively unknown, it is expected to be very significant considering the high incidence of emotional reactions amongst university students and staff. While fears around COVID-19 exposure, anxieties, and the challenges of support normalize stress, anxiety, and depression as emotional reactions in the face of the pandemic, this psychosocial impact has negative consequences for the university community. Thus, in order to salvage the higher education institutions from the debilitating effects of the pandemic, there is a clear need to safeguard the welfare of students and staff. Hence, it becomes vital to examine the experience of members of the university community during the COVID-19 crisis in order to develop measures and implement interventions that will assist in navigating psychosocial challenges. To achieve this objective, the study employed a mixed-method research approach in which data was collected using web-based survey and online interviews. Concurrent triangulation sampling technique was employed to select a sample of fifteen (15) students, five (5) university managers, and five (5) lecturers – making twenty-five (25) respondents at each of the two universities, thus making a cumulative total of fifty (50) at two (2) rural universities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Thus, qualitative and quantitative data collected were analysed concurrently by first reporting the qualitative findings and then comparing them to the quantitative findings. Findings revealed that although the university environment traditionally provided opportunities for strengthening social ties which satisfy the universal need to belong to a community, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered rural university life, thus, significantly impacting on psychosocial wellbeing. The study recommends that rural institutions must facilitate psychosocial wellness programming with the assistance of wider stakeholders such as the government and the private sector who can assist in financing this initiative.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of society in ways that nobody could have imagined
The study sought to investigate the experiences of staff and students at two rural universities with regards to COVID-19-induced psychosocial challenges in South African higher education
Our research findings highlight COVID-19-induced psychosocial challenges in South African higher education as well as aspects of wellness which are a source of concern for rural academic institutions
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of society in ways that nobody could have imagined. As a measure to curtail the spread of the highly infectious virus, countries set in place various strategies to limit the movement of people (and the resultant transmission of the virus) Such strategies include the enactment of lockdowns, the banning of public gatherings, wearing of masks, sanitizing of hands, etc. (McCorkle, 2020; Sahu, 2020) These measures meant that education institutions (schools, colleges, universities, etc.) were closed and alternative methods of instruction had to be formulated (Adeyon & Soykan, 2020; Ebrahim et al, 2020). Remote learning presents various challenges for students and staff at higher education institutions – for example the lack of access, training and unavailability of online resources (Dhawan, 2020; Kalimullina et al, 2021; Muhuro & Kang'ethe, 2021), complications of assessment and evaluation (Ntshwarang et al, 2021; UNESCO, 2020)
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