Abstract
Covid-19 has created major upheavals in the lives of students all over the world. The abrupt transition to online classrooms across educational institutes has caused immense turmoil in the students’ psyche. Students of Modern College of Business and Science (MCBS), also faced this dilemma. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate how this shift had affected them academically, psychologically, economically, and socially. Further, it sought to determine their ability to handle stress and the support the College needed to provide to overcome these challenges. This study utilized the descriptive research design where data was collected through a validated researcher designed tool. Purposive sampling was employed in choosing respondents from the Departments of General Education, Business and Economics at MCBS. Weighted mean, frequency and pareto ranking were used to analyze the data. Analysis revealed that students were in the grip of a vicious cycle. The resultant psychological and social isolation led to low academic performance resulting in low grades, GPAs, further leading to low motivation to study. The students grappled with economic issues also. This study however threw up an extremely important point - the kind of support the education institutes can provide to students in these challenging times. Though students used their internal coping strategies to overcome their mental state, educational institutes should prioritize and support students’ mental health. This will enable students not only to handle stress, anxiety, and depression, but also look forward to completing their academic studies successfully and move forward in their lives.
Author Information
Jennifer Paquibut, Modern College of Business and Science, Oman
Aarati Mujumdar, Modern College of Business and Science, Oman
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