Students’ and Institutional Concerns in Crisis of COVID-19: Evidence from Education Sector of Pakistan

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on psychological, physical, and financial health concerns of students and examined their academic and institutional concerns through adherence to COVID-19 preventions. The target population was students of under graduation, graduation, and post-graduation who are currently enrolled in Pakistani Universities. Data is cross sectional as it was collected from September 2020 to November 2020. SEM is used to measure the hypothesized model. The findings reveal that the model is fit, and all the variables are significant and positively correlated. The indirect relationship between variables is also significant and all variables are partially mediated. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on the financial, mental, and physical well-being of students. Adhering to proper COVID-19 preventive measures can help alleviate the students' academic and institutional concerns. Our results show that students are facing higher levels of stress, financial difficulties, and believe their education has been affected if they do not abide by the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) related to COVID-19. The majority of students are comfortable with technology-based educational adaptations and support the use of masks, social distancing, and frequent hand sanitization.