Living conditions of students and their families in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic: Case of students from University of Antique

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) disease has caused serious and long-term implications for people’s health, quality of life, and well-being. Apart from the hostility of the pandemic to the worldwide economy, the crisis has also made a significant impact on the education system, specifically on the students. The disturbance has shifted from traditional learning of students to a virtual class experience through online set up or remote learning. This study assesses the living conditions of randomly selected students of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Antique and their families amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary data were gathered through the use of an online survey on Google Forms, wherein respondents were selected using stratified random sampling. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired T- test. The findings of the study revealed that students experienced worsened conditions due to the pandemic. The results further showed that the students and their families were negatively affected by the pandemic after six months of the pandemic through several variables such as employment status, job satisfaction, number of people working in the household, household income, household expenses, performance as a student and performance as a son/daughter. The gradually improving situation of the UA students and their families after two years of the pandemic showed that they are on their way to recovery. Yet, the results also showed that they are yet to fully recover. The paper recommends interventions, policy workshops, and evidence-based programs to help students and their families recover from the effects of the pandemic and become better prepared for any similar future crises