Impact of Closure of South African Universities on Wellbeing of International Students During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The surging coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has impacted all spheres of the economy not sparing higher education in South Africa. The impact was felt by both staff and students not only on teaching and learning but also on their socio-economic, health and physical well-being. This paper sought to explore the experiences international students during the closure of the universities in the country due to Covid-19 pandemic. This paper adopted the data from self-designed questionnaire administered to 68 international students from a public university in South Africa The quantitative data were analysed using the descriptive statistics. The results show that international students were more vulnerable and exposed to socio-economic and mental challenges including sense of low esteem, financial distress and emotional distress during the pandemic which impacted negatively on their academic outputs and social wellbeing, amongst other things. The findings also revealed that the university authorities did not take the necessary steps to address the life circumstances of the international students. The paper, therefore, highlights the holistic understanding of how to mitigate and alleviate the socio-economic impacts of such pandemic in future through opening dialogue, changing institutional policy to respond to emergency as at when it occurs, and the universities or higher institutions should put in place intervention strategies to assist foreign students during the outbreak of a disease.