Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Seventh-day Adventist College of Education Students in Ghana: Did the Lockdown Status of a District Matter?

Abstract

This article examined the economic effects of the coronavirus disease on college of education students based on their location in the lockdown and non-lockdown districts. A total of 198 students from the Seventh-day Adventist College of Education, Agona-Ashanti, Ghana, were selected using a simple random sampling. A questionnaire and semi-structured thematic guide were used for data collection. Quantitative data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS (version 25) while direct quotes from in-depth interviews were used to support quantitative data. The results show that students and parents mainly engaged in trading and farming as their main sources of income. The chi-square test of independence showed no statistically significant differences in the self-supporting livelihood activities pursued by students from lockdown and non-lockdown districts (P˃.05). It also showed no statistically significant differences in the effect of the pandemic on both parents' and students' livelihood activities based on their location (P˃.05). The economic consequences of the pandemic on students’ academic activities in both lockdown and non-lockdown districts were, thus, similar. It is recommended that the Ghanaian government's measures to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic should not be limited to the lockdown districts but should be extended to all districts across the country.