The Challenges Faced by University Students Amid Covid-19 Lockdowns: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

The coronavirus is an infectious disease that had ravaged the world. Since a new strand of the virus was identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019, over 112 million people had been infected, out of which over 2 million had died. With the rapid global spread of the virus as well as the rising number of infections and related deaths, different public health strategies including lockdowns were instituted to combat it. The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges faced by undergraduate students in Anambra State during the lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic. It adopted an interpretative phenomenological approach where in-depth interviews were used to collect data from 30 purposively selected undergraduate students in Anambra State. Findings from the study showed that the lockdown adversely affected the students’ socio-economic and psychological wellbeing. Findings also showed that the students’ academic life was disrupted during the lockdown due to poor network connectivity and lack of e-learning facilities in public universities. Generally, the female participants, participants who studied science courses, participants enrolled in public universities, those from low income families and those who were above 25 faced the most challenges. This study argues that the lack of alternative learning measures like e-learning was the major reason for most of the challenges faced by the students. Based on its findings, the study recommended that there should be an e-driven Educational Continuity Plan (eEECP) to ensure that students continue their learning even during situations like pandemics. It also recommended that Nigerian universities should make their guidance and counseling units/ students’ affairs units more effective, to see to the academic and psychological well-being of the students.

Keywords: Coronavirus, lockdown, public health measures, student challenges

DOI: 10.7176/IKM/14-2-03

Publication date:March 31^st 2024