Barriers and Enablers in the Education and Psychosocial Wellbeing of University Students amid the COVID-19: The Case of Eastern Ethiopia, Haramaya University in Focus

Abstract

The education system is one of the sectors that have been severely affected by COVID-19. As a result, a new way of teaching-learning was initiated by world’s educational institutions to try to educate their students through online learning platforms. Hence, this study aims at exploring barriers and enablers of online education as well as the psychosocial well-being of university students during COVID-19 in eastern Ethiopia with a particular focus on Haramaya University. A concurrent mixed method design was employed. A total of 384 participants were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaires, key informant interviews, and document analyses were used to collect data. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analyzed thematically, then the analyzed data were integrated to get a holistic picture of the study result. The study revealed that university students experienced high levels of barriers, low levels of enablers, and severe levels of psychosocial problems while attending their education online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, proactive measures taken for identifying and removing barriers, enhancing enablers, and creating a support system that shields the psychosocial well-being of university students are recommended as appropriate intervention strategies to adapt the online education modality in universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was originated at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China initially as an epidemic, but spread rapidly in the world within few days. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated it a pandemic in March 2020 and issued safety measures and preventions to be taken to deal with the precarious disease [1]. To respond to COVID-19, many countries have taken diverse preventive measures, including restrictions on movements, social distancing, self-isolation, or quarantine; and asking people to work at home. Considering growing concern about the pandemic, the whole world abruptly gets into lockdown, which impelled the widespread closure of schools, HEIs, and other educational institutions in many countries [2].

In Ethiopia, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed and reported on 13 March 2020 [3] and a 5-month state of emergency was declared on 8 April 2020 (Proclamation no. 3/2020) to safeguard the citizens and curb the spread of the virus [4]. As part of the national response to the rising concern about the COVID-19 pandemic, an inter-ministerial task force chaired by the Prime Minister has been established and, effective 16 March 2020 decided to take a variety of policy actions and precautionary measures such as airport surveillance and suspension of flights, travel restrictions, closure of international borders, flexible working arrangements, closing schools and universities, suspending sporting and religious gatherings [5]. The closure of all types of educational institutions, in turn, resulted in sending more than one million students to their homes [6]. As a result, over 26 million students from over 37,000 primary schools and over 500,000 primary school teachers across Ethiopia have been affected by the closures. The temporary closure of the HEIs was based on the principle to safeguard public health from the pandemic by avoiding large social gatherings. It is a common practice among educational institutions in general and HEIs, in particular, to close their doors when confinement or quarantine-related legislations are enacted [2].

In an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus among student population, all the universities across the country canceled all campus activities such as face-to-face class delivery. Students and teachers were banned from meeting and only allowed to connect online or by other means that do not contravene social distancing measures. Universities have gradually transited to offering courses and programs in an online delivery mode than face-to-face modality.

Universities are situated at different extremes in terms of their capacities related to technology, instructional resources, and, above all, experienced teachers and those that do not. At one of the extremes are private or public universities with huge sizes, outstanding international exposure, and high reputation in virtual education.

At one extreme are the universities, public or private, of greater size and international exposure that already have a remarkable tradition of virtual education platforms generally forged into the system. In such universities, online education is used for offering courses for undergraduate students as a didactic supplement to the face-to-face modality where they can find programs, readings, exercises, and, of course, communication mechanisms among students and teachers. Yet, some of these universities that are well familiar with the intensive use of technology in education have realized the need to prepare students and teachers for the transition to online education with all that it requires in terms of technology and skills for digital teaching and learning.

Any major epidemic outbreak will have negative effects on individuals and society. Along with its high contagion and fatality rates, COVID-19 has caused a universal psychological impact by causing mass hysteria, economic burden, and financial losses. Studies have shown that public health emergencies can have many psychological effects on college students, which can be expressed as anxiety, fear, and worry, among others [7]. Mass fear of COVID-19 termed “corona-phobia,” has generated a plethora of psychiatric manifestations across the different strata of society. The disease itself accompanied by forced quarantine to combat the virus applied by nationwide lockdowns can produce acute panic, anxiety, fear of transmitting infection, feeling of incompatibility, depression, increased substance dependence, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the long run. These have been fueled by “coronavirus infodemic” which refers to breeding fright and panic by laying out unchecked mind-boggling rumors, flamboyant news propaganda, and sensationalism [8].

University students were at an important developmental age for their values and judges and could be easily affected by the opinions and views from social media; therefore, their emotions were also vulnerable. A survey conducted by the UNESCO [2] on psychological crisis of higher education in the USA shows that 75% of them experienced anxiety and depression during COVID-19. A study carried out between March 17 and 19, 2020 to examine the impacts of COVID-19 in 172 USA HEIs found the social-emotional health and well-being of students, teachers, and non-teachers as an immediate concern for the institutions. Nevertheless, measures targeted to the specific area were limited to only two states out of 10. Other areas of concern include student access to the requisite technologies and platforms (76%) and the institutions’ own real capacity, in technological and pedagogical terms, to offer quality online education (75%).

Therefore, the current study dealt with barriers and enablers in the education and psychosocial well-being of university students amid the COVID-19 pandemic in eastern Ethiopia, with a particular focus on Haramaya University.

1.2 Statement of the problem

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused massive disruptions across all human spheres. UNESCO [2] reported that as of the 6th of April 2020, 1,576,021,818 billion students were affected across 188 countries at all education levels. In Ethiopia, like in many parts of the world, the temporary cessation of face-to-face activities has been a huge disruptor of the functions of higher education institutions, mainly the provision of instruction in the face-to-face modality. With the gradual decline of the original fright and panic instigated by the pandemic, higher education institutions in the country have devised alternative strategies to maintain undisrupted learning within the context of disrupted classes. In this regard, one of the notable measures taken by the higher education institutions in Ethiopia with the direction from the MoSHE was the continuation of education through virtual instruction [3].

Despite the directives given by the ministry of education, however, there are a lot of challenges to offer online education to students considering the actual context of Ethiopia. One of the challenges in relation to this is that online classes are new for the large majority of students. Other challenges are lack of access to laptops and internet facilities at home, poor internet connection, and excess internet cost to follow their studies during a serious pandemic situation [6]. Still, another challenge is that many teachers are unprepared to teach online and cannot ensure student engagement due to deficits in ICT knowledge and skills. The transition to online mode of educational delivery poses questions for academic staff about their capacity to deal with the existing technology, in addition to overcoming constraints related to internet accessibility and necessary equipment. Besides these, the transition from face-to-face teaching to online delivery has a serious impact on assessment and evaluation. Applying assessments online on those courses designed for face-to-face learning is a challenging task. Owing to the challenges encountered both from the students’ and instructors’ side, the quality and feasibility of online education is a critical issue of concern that needs proper attention.

In addition to the problems related to online teaching, the worldwide rapid increase of infected cases has created a sense of uncertainty and anxiety about what is going to happen. Earlier research findings [9, 10, 11, 12, 13] indicated that negative psychological effects may result from infectious diseases of uncertainty recently observed around the globe as the 2010 and 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the Ebola virus, equine influenza, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome. Apart from other emotional reactions, feelings of anxiety, stressfulness, and distress are common under situations of uncertainty like COVID-19. Dubey et al. [8] elucidated that mental well-being had been heavily affected by this kind of global pandemic. Students have had to rearrange their daily lives to adjust to a situation of confinement. University campus life and learning have a critical role in the psychological development of students and home confinement-related issues were hypothesized to have a psychological impact on university students. Prolonged periods of university closure and movement restrictions may lead to emotional unrest and anxiety. It has also caused a tremendous level of stress among the university fraternity, inclusive of students. This stress may lead to unfavorable effects on the learning and psychological well-being of students.

Earlier studies have documented the negative influence of pandemics on students’ psychological well-being [14] which has led to acute depression and anxiety [15]. For example, a survey conducted during the last week of March among higher education students in the United States shows that 75% have said that they have experienced anxiety and depression because of the crisis [16]. Similarly, Cao et al. [17] investigated the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on university students in China. The finding showed that out of the 7143 students who participated in the study 0.9%, 2.7%, and 21.3% respectively had mild, moderate, and severe anxiety. Likewise, the study carried out to examine the psychological effect of COVID-19 on 1210 students taken from 194 cities in China, indicated that 53.8% of the respondents had psychological problems ranging from severe to moderate, with relatively higher impact effect on the female students (2020).

Despite all the problems and concerns revolving surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a paucity of research on the barriers and enablers that respectively inhibit or facilitate the online education modality as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the psychosocial well-being of students in HEIs of Ethiopia in general and in Haramaya University in particular. In addition, questions arise about whether the university is taking proactive measures to facilitate online learning and support the psychosocial well-being of students.

Hence, this study was designed to examine enabling factors that facilitated online education and challenges encountered by university students and their teachers who offer them online courses to put into practice the direction set by the ministry of education and their respective universities. By doing so, the study sought to examine major barriers that impede university students and their university instructors, respectively, to deliver and attending courses through online mode and disseminate best practices in this regard. Given the fact that the higher education institutions in eastern Ethiopia have entered into a completely new, previously unexplored frontier of educational delivery under the pressure of COVID-19, and that they did not have a clear idea of how long the pandemic will last and the level of impact it will have on the system and its prime actors (i.e., students, teachers, and the university management) the researchers were initiated to conduct the study in this area.

1.3 Research questions

The study was guided by the following basic research questions:

1. What was the extent of postgraduate students’ perceived experience regarding barriers or enablers in attending online education during COVID-19 (the nature of online teaching-learning system, technological issues, process of academic issues, and domestic/contextual issues)?

2. What was the extent of psychosocial wellbeing among postgraduate students during COVID-19?

1.4 Purpose of the study

1.4.1 General objective

The COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent closure of HEIs resulted in a shift from the face-to-face teaching-learning modality to the online modality in the postgraduate study programs offered at Haramaya University. To this end, the purpose of the study was to assess the perception of postgraduate students towards online education and the barriers and enablers in attending their education as well as problems of psychosocial well-being among students during COVID-19.

1.4.2 Specific objectives

1. To describe the barriers and enablers of online education which are experienced by postgraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. To indicate the extent of psychosocial well-being problems, which are experienced by postgraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1.5 Scope of the study

The target population of the study was regular postgraduate students. Geographically, the study was delimited to public higher education institutions (HEIs) found in eastern Ethiopia with a particular focus on Haramaya University. Conceptually, the study was delimited to assess barriers and enablers of online education and assess problems of psychosocial wellbeing among postgraduate students during COVID-19. The study focuses nature of online teaching-learning system, technological issues, process of academic issues, domestic/contextual issues, and psycho-social wellbeing as a measured variable, as well as living area, gender, and nature of program as demographic characteristics of participants as independent variables. The study was delimited to use a concurrent mixed research method. The study excluded regular postgraduate students who completed their coursework.

1.6 Limitations of the study

While doing this research, the study had the following constraints:

• There were some incomplete responses in the collected questionnaire which resulted in the exclusion of those participants’ perceptions and views during the data analysis process.

• It is well known that the issue of online education is so broad with different dimensions. Thus, the issues and concerns surrounding the topic could not be fully addressed within the limited sample size and geographical coverage of the study.

• During the interview, the researchers kept notes of participants’ views, feelings, cues, and expressions related to their lived experiences on online learning. Such notes were important while the researchers transcribed the audio-recorded data. However, researchers found faced difficulty depicting fully, some of the intonations, emphasis, and accents in the form of transcript.

1.7 Definition of basic terms

• Barriers: refer to hindrances/challenges/obstacles faced by students and instructors during online education during COVID-19.

• Enablers: refer to conditions that facilitate online education during COVID-19.

2. Review of related literature

2.1 Introduction

In this section, major concepts and constructs in the study are defined and clarified. Particularly, the terms and concepts of coronavirus disease, online learning, and psychosocial well-being are defined. The review further examines and presents previous empirical studies conducted in the area at local and international levels.

2.2 The coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

According to the WHO [18], the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is termed an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Fever, dry cough, fatigue pneumonia, difficulty in breathing, and lung infection are some of the major symptoms of the virus [19]. On January 7, 2020, the virus was labeled as 2019-nCov and recognized as the third notable outbreak in recent times after the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Patients diagnosed to have the virus affecting their lower respiratory tract with pneumonia were initially identified in December 2019 in Wuhan region, China. The spread of the epidemic was so fast that by the next month on January 3, 2020, the WHO announced it as a public emergency of international concern. Again, on the 11th of March 2020, the WHO officially declared that COVID -19 can be considered as a pandemic owing to the growing number of cases reported and the number of countries affected [18].

Ethiopia is one of the affected countries for which the first confirmed COVID -19 case was identified on March 13, 2020. The number of cases in the country has been increasing alarmingly since the first case was reported. Three days after the first case was reported, the government of Ethiopia has taken different policy measures, such as the banning of all public gatherings and the closure of HEIs and schools. In addition, the government encouraged physical distancing, placed travelers from abroad under a 14-day mandatory quarantine, closed hotel bars until further notice, and banned travel through land borders. The measures taken by the federal government cascaded to the regional governments and, eventually, they imposed restrictions on public transportation and other vehicle movements between cities and rural areas. On the 8th of April 2020, a state of emergency was declared at the national level.

2.3 Online learning during COVID-19

Online learning is referred to as learning experiences in synchronous or asynchronous settings using devices of different kinds including mobile phones and laptops with internet access. According to Singh and Thurman [20], these environments allow the students to be anywhere geographically and yet enable them to interact with each other and their instructors [21]. Based on the modes of delivery, online learning can be classified into three typologies as synchronous, asynchronous, and open learning. Unlike the asynchronous learning, synchronous learning is organized in such a way that the courses are scheduled at specific times and in live virtual classroom settings. This enables the students to benefit from real-time interactions, hence getting instant messaging and feedback when needed [22]. Open learning involves, among other things, the preparation and release of appropriate teaching materials and the usage of teaching methodologies that encourage students to construct and contribute to knowledge, regulate the pathways, and rate of their own learning.

There are several studies (e.g., [23, 24]), which show that online teaching can produce better results at a lower cost. Online teaching has the potential to reduce the cost of education [25] which is a significant factor preventing more people from studying at tertiary level. In line with this, Harasim [26], points out that many benefits are associated with moving to teaching and learning to the internet and predicts a large-scale network of education being created from the concept of e-learning. Previous studies, too, (e.g.,[26, 27, 28]) show several advantages of online learning and provide a good number of reasons as to why students are likely to learn effectively through online studies. According to these studies, students have more control over their studies and have more opportunities at their disposal for reflection. The studies further revealed that successful online students tend to be organized and self-starters who can accomplish their work without close supervision. Learning became more accessible, participatory, and relevant to the context with advances in ICT in education and the development of digital learning resources such as games, e-books, e-notes, models, quizzes, graphics, animations, simulations, online video micro-courses, Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) [29].

It is quite understandable that online learning could provide a great opportunity for the HEIs in Ethiopia, as it might guide them to upgrade their technical infrastructure and make online teaching and learning a core aspect of their operation.

For almost if online teaching has been possible there has been a perception on the part of students, administrators, and some teachers that there are some barriers to the adoption of online teaching at the tertiary level of education [21]. Studies aimed at identifying the causes for resistance against online teaching have been conducted beginning as early as the 1990s [30, 31]. These studies have shown that teachers encountered explicit or implicit barriers in adopting online teaching. In relation to this, a comprehensive summary of the review of literature on barriers and enablers to online learning was made by Maguire [32] and presented under the two overarching themes: intrinsic and institutional barriers, and intrinsic, extrinsic, and institutional motivators.

Other studies have shown that offering online education to students is demanding and requires overcoming a lot of challenges. For instance, Bao [33] and Filius et al. [34] argue that going entirely online requires significant planning and investments from all sectors. The online infrastructure in many universities does not permit the utilization of distance learning owing to malfunctioning of the university websites and library websites, professors’ skills deficit in manipulating electronic devices to the required level, limited provisions in research facilities for remote work, etc. When the issue is seen from the human dimension as well, switching to the online curriculum delivery mode is not an easy task due to lack of readiness from most of the academic staff not due to other reasons but an absence of the skills needed and previous related training. Despite high level of interest in distance tertiary education in the last decade, the number of resources available for conducting online learning remains inadequate in many countries. Guidance and counseling for students work less well or are not available at all in the distance mode for academic guidance, career guidance, psychological counseling, and professional orientation for school graduates.

Additional challenges include poor internet connectivity, high internet cost, and constraints of technological devices and infrastructure which seriously impede the involvement of students in online learning over and above their likely lack of alertness to follow their studies in a serious pandemic situation. Such persistence of lack of a developed learning system has compelled institutions to use social media platforms for educational activities. Failures of such kinds exhibited in higher education institutions in addressing the challenges that the students experienced created unhappiness and disagreement with the institutions [6]. Distance learning due to the pandemic is already having major implications for equity. These implications could be academic, social, financial, and physical taking students at-risk as an example. Learners who have no access to technology as well as those with learning disabilities and challenges are likely to be left behind resulting in exacerbating the existing disparity in access and retention. Likewise, as families are impacted by the economic effect of closed economies, students may be needed to provide support to their families, putting their studies in jeopardy. Without concerted efforts in terms of institutional guidance, counseling, and support, the most vulnerable students are likely to fall out of tertiary education.

As a leading experience worldwide, China is the first country to provide massive online education to hundreds of millions of students nationwide during the epidemic prevention and control period. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese Ministry of Education launched the “disrupted classes, undisrupted learning” initiative, providing flexible online learning to over 270 million students from their homes [29]. According to the Chinese Ministry of Education [29] in the 2018 academic year, there were about 518,800 schools at all levels, with about 16,728,500 full-time teachers and 276 million students in China.

2.4 Psychosocial wellbeing

The psychological tradition operationalizes wellbeing as the subjective evaluation of life via satisfaction and affect (e.g., [35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]) or personal functioning [41]. According to this view, emotional well-being is an excess of positive over negative feelings; personal psychological functioning is the presence of more positive than negatively perceived self-attributes, such as personal growth. Research in well-being has been classified into two major streams; namely, the hedonic and eudaimonic approaches. In the hedonic approach, well-being is defined and conceptualized in terms of happiness in general and the presence of pleasure and absence of pain in particular, which makes it belong to the stream of research on subjective well-being [36, 37]. On the other hand, in the eudemonic approach, well-being is associated with a human potential that, when realized, results in a person’s optimal functioning in life [37, 42] which is reflected in the stream of research on psychological [41] and social [43] well-being.

In the current literature, there seems to be a consensus that well-being is a multidimensional construct composed of three dimensions: subjective, social, and psychological, which add up to overall well-being. In turn, each of these dimensions is multi-dimensional. This is analogous to the three dimensions of health which incorporate psychological, social, and physical well-being according to the World Health Organization [44]. In contemporary literature, psychosocial well-being is defined in diverse ways, and it refers among other things to the physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, economic, and cultural health of the person. The consensus is that a psychosocial model should exhibit interconnectedness among the different aspects of overall well-being [45].

According to Diener et al. [46], subjective well-being refers to a person’s cognitive and affective assessment of his or her life. Although there is no consensus on the number of dimensions that comprise subjective well-being, two main components are generally evident: a cognitive (satisfaction) and an affective (pleasant effect and low levels of unpleasant effect) component [35, 36, 37].

A combination of positive circumstances in all spectrums of life, such as contentment, both physically and spiritually; plus, optimal function is recognized as psychological well-being [47]. In addition, psychological well-being refers to how individuals control their life and activities [48]. Psychological well-being does not just make us feel good all the time but also involves negative emotions such as frustration, failure, and grief which are normal things in life [47]. Positive emotional and social support plays a fundamental role in building psychological well-being [49]. Therefore, managing negative emotions is important for long-term well-being. An individual who has high psychological well-being will lead a happy life and will be satisfied with their professional and personal life, capable and well-supported. Ryff [41] proposed the concept of psychological well-being as a multidimensional construct that consists of six distinct facets, which include self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, positive relations with others, environmental mastery, and autonomy.

Social well-being is the appraisal of one’s circumstances and functioning in society [43]. Keyes [43] proposed and described social well-being to have multiple dimensions including social integration, social acceptance, social contribution, and social coherence to mention a few. Social integration refers to the assessment of the quality of one’s relationship with the community and society at large. A healthy person feels that he/she is a part of society. Therefore, integration is the measure with which the person evaluates his/her relationship with other individuals and his/her belongingness to society. Social acceptance is the social counterpart of personal acceptance: people who have a good feeling about his/her personality and recognize both the good and the bad sides of their lives symbolize good mental health [41, 50]. Consequently, social acceptance of others might be considered as the social equivalent of self-acceptance.

Social contribution is one’s assessment of self in terms of social value. It includes the belief that one is a vital member of society, with the value of giving to the world. Social responsibility is the designation of personal obligations that ostensibly contribute to society. Social contribution reflects whether, and to what degree, people feel that whatever they do in the world is valued by society and contributes to the common good. Social coherence refers to the perception of the individual towards the operation, organization, and quality of the social world and it also involves a concern for knowing about the world. A healthy person not only cares about the kind of world in which he/she lives but also feels that he/she can understand what is happening around. Such individuals do not deceive themselves that they live in a perfect world; they have maintained or promoted the desire to make sense of life.

2.5 Measurement of psychosocial wellbeing

In measuring psychosocial well-being, researchers either focus on clinical symptomatology such as depression, or use global measures of life satisfaction and happiness [43]. The self is both a public process and a private product [51, 52] implying social and subjective well-being, respectively. Subjective well-being is most measured by asking people a single question, such as “how satisfied are you with your life as a whole?” In contrast to single-question measures, multi-item measures of subjective well-being were developed with the purpose of achieving greater reliability. Diener’s [37] and Seligman’s [53] models of subjective well-being are such multi-item measures of subjective well-being [37, 54, 55]. Multi-item measures have also been developed for psychological and social well-being by Ryff [41] and Keyes [43] respectively. These scales include different number of items measured on a 5-point Likert scale (from 1 = strongly disagree up to 5 = strongly agree).

2.6 Impact of COVID-19 on students’ psychosocial well-being

COVID-19 is creating a psycho-emotional chaotic situation as countries have been reporting a sharp rise in mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, stress, sleep disorder as well as fear, among its citizens [56, 57, 58, 59, 60]. Depression and anxiety are both common mental disorders with a prevalence of 10−44% in developing countries and depression is the fourth leading cause of morbidity [61]. Brooks et al. [62] reviewed and reported quarantine could bring “post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion, and anger. Stressors included longer quarantine duration, infection fears, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, inadequate information, financial loss, and stigma.” A Canadian study focusing on the effects of quarantine after the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic found an association between a longer duration of quarantine with a high prevalence of anxiety and depression among people [63]. Some researchers also suggested long-lasting effects. Some HEIs have recognized the isolation that follows confinement and organized support mechanisms for addressing psychological and socio-emotional problems experienced by the university community, particularly the students. Although such measures were not common to all universities when it has been taken it has usually capitalized on the resources of the psychology faculties or student welfare services. For instance, at the Franz Tamayo University in Bolivia 13 psychologists came on board to serve the university community, especially in situations of isolation [16].

Psychological distress has been considered a major and critical issue occurred among university students globally [64]. Five out of the top six health-related problems are psychology based on a study conducted in the United States [48, 64]. University students are at high risk for depression and anxiety symptoms ([65]; American College Health [66]) and are exposed to multiple stressors unique to this developmental period [67, 68].

Researchers in China observed that greater exposure to “misinformation” through social media are more likely to contribute to the development of anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems among its population of different socioeconomic background [17, 33, 69, 70]. Studies before COVID-19 also suggested an inverse relationship between media exposure and mental health [71, 72]. On the contrary, a study in South Korea during the middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) reported a positive relationship between risk perception and media exposure [73]. Infodemic can increase the burden of psychological stress and anxiety on a large scale. People who use social networks excessively are prone to adverse effects related to infodemic. Studies suggest that social media, electronic media, and print media should avoid spreading hateful and stressful news.

Lower socioeconomic status (SES) has been linked consistently to diminished physical and mental health [74], partially because life at lower socio-economic levels appears to impair health-promoting self-conceptions [75].

3. Research design and method

3.1 Study area

The study was conducted in eastern Ethiopia with a focus on Haramaya University. Haramaya University is one of the government higher learning institutions (HLIs) located in the eastern part of Ethiopia at about 510 km from the capital, Addis Ababa. It was established in 1954 as an agricultural college but developed into a full-fledged university with diverse study programs in 1985. It is functioning on two campus premises, one of which is located close to Haramaya town and the other one located in Harar city. This university comprises nine colleges, one Institute, one Academy, and one Postgraduate Program Directorate under which about 34,207 students (25,984 undergraduate and 4367 postgraduate) are undertaking their studies. Except for the College of Health and Medical Sciences which is in Harar city, the remaining academic units are located on the main campus. The university launched its graduate study programs in 1979/80 academic year (Table 1) [76].

Strongly Disagree	Disagree	True to Some Extent	Agree	Strongly Disagree
1−1.80	1.81−2.60	2.61−3.40	3:41−4:20	4:21−5:00

Table 1.

Average score interpretation for a five-point Likert scale.

3.2 Research design

The study employed mixed research design, particularly concurrent mixed research design. This research design involves collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data simultaneously. Creswell [77] stated this kind of research design provides a more complete understanding of a research problem than either approach alone. Besides, it has the advantage of minimizing the limitations of both approaches. Among the two forms of mixed methods designs (sequential and concurrent) identified by Creswell [78], the concurrent mixed methods design was employed in this study where two independent strands of quantitative and qualitative data were collected separately in a single phase and merged towards the end by bringing the separate results together in the simultaneous analysis and interpretation parts. As Creswell and Plano-Clark [79] and Creswell [77] indicated that this method helps to have a general picture of the subject under consideration at a time.

3.3 Sources of data

For the study, both primary and secondary sources of data were consulted as thoroughly as possible. To this end, primary data was collected from a sample of postgraduate students (MA/MSc and PhD) of Haramaya University, and instructors (as key informants) who had active involvement in the online learning-teaching process. Besides, secondary data was collected from published and unpublished documents (both international and local), research articles, and different reports by various stakeholders.

3.4 Population, sample size, and sampling techniques

The population considered for this study was postgraduate students at Haramaya University. A stratified random sampling technique was employed to select the participants by considering their heterogeneity in terms of program nature, level of study (MA/MSc and PhD), place of residence (rural and urban), and sex category. As it was a challenge to get the exact number of student population under consideration, the researchers opted to use a representative sample size formula developed by Cochran [80] for proportions. The formula is described as no = Z² pq/e² where no refers to the sample size, z stands for the selected critical value of desired confidence level and the z-value is found in a Z table. e is the desired level of precision (i.e. the margin of error), p is the (estimated) proportion of the population which has the attribute in question, q is 1 – p.

Hence, assuming a maximum variability of 50% (p = 0.5) and considering 95% confidence level with ≠ 5% precision, the sample size was calculated as follows: p = 0.5 and hence q = 1–0.5 = 0.5; e = 0.05; z = 1.96 no = ((1.96)² (0.5)(0.5))/(0.05)² = 384.16 = 384. After the total sample size was determined, it was proportionally shared by colleges, institutes, and academy’s population of postgraduate students. Therefore, the researchers had a total of 384 participants from the institute, academy, and all the colleges to fill out the self-administered questionnaire. Of the total 384 participants, 318 properly responded to the questionnaires. Hence, the response rate was 82.8%, which is considered adequate and excellent. Besides, 11 key informants who had a direct link with and active engagement in online learning-teaching were purposively selected and interviewed. This helped to triangulate the quantitative data obtained through the questionnaire.

3.5 Methods of data collection

Data were collected through questionnaires, key informant interviews, and document review. The questionnaire and interview guides were prepared in english.

3.5.1 Questionnaire

A Likert-scale type questionnaire was used for collecting quantitative data. The questionnaire comprises three major sections and a total of eighty-six (86) items. The first section aimed at collecting data about the study participants’ socio-demographic characteristics and consists of eight (8) terms. The second section aimed at assessing the barriers and enablers experienced by the students while attending online education under COVID-19 and consists of forty (40) items categorized into four (4) components; namely, nature of online teaching-learning system (7 items), technology-related issues (6 items), teaching-learning process (15 items), and micro-level context-related issues (12 items). These five-point Likert scales ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree which are represented as 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = somewhat disagree; 3 = neither agree nor disagree; 4 = somewhat agree; and 5 = strongly agree. For the interpretations of items, their average scores were used.

The forty (40) items in the second section related to barriers and enablers in attending online learning under COVID-19 were developed by the researchers based on an extensive review of literature. To this end, previous studies conducted on the topic of online education in general and under COVID-19 were reviewed and major issues to be addressed were identified. Accordingly, the items were developed in such a way that each of them addresses different aspects of online education. The third section aimed at assessing the psychosocial well-being of the students and consists of 38 items classified into four components; namely, risk perception (12 items), depression, anxiety, and stress (21 items) which was adopted from public domain literature indicated in [81], subjective or social wellbeing associated with COVID-19 (5 items) which was adapted from public domain literature cited in [82] with some modification.

3.5.2 Key informant interview

Key informant interview was conducted using interview guide questions prepared to meet the objectives of the study. The questions were prepared with the aim to strengthen the quantitative data collected through questionnaire. The questions are mainly related to enablers/best practices observed from the online education system during COVID-19, barriers encountered during online education, and psychosocial problems encountered by the students under COVID-19. The items were prepared in english.

3.6 Validity and reliability of instruments

Data collectors were given training on the tools and overall ethics and skills of data collection for two days. Instruments of data collection were validated, standardized, and contextualized by the experts (researchers).

Pilot study was made on 5% sample of non-participants of the study and the necessary revisions to the instruments of data collection were made accordingly.

The filled-out questionnaires were checked thoroughly on a daily basis by the supervisors for their completeness.

3.7 Methods of data analysis

The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis in a parallel way. Accordingly, the quantitative data were organized using SPSS software version 20 and analyzed by employing descriptive statistics. Besides, the qualitative data was sorted out, transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically by integrating it with the quantitative data. This helped to have a relatively holistic picture of the subject under consideration from vantage points.

3.8 Ethical considerations

The proposal for conducting the study was approved and a letter of cooperation was obtained from Haramaya University Research Office after submitting the proposal to the office. Training was provided for data collectors on how to secure confidentiality and privacy of the study participants by using the consent form attached to each questionnaire. Accordingly, anonymity was assured by excluding respondents’ names during the data collection process. In addition, informed consent was obtained from the study participants after clearly explaining to them the purpose, procedure, duration, possible risks, and benefits of the study. Participants who were not willing to engage in the study and those who wanted to abstain from filling out the questionnaire at any time were allowed to do so.

In order to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 during data collection, care was taken using hand sanitizer, facemask, and keeping an appropriate physical distance. To make sure that these ethical standards were met, the researchers had close supervision of the data collectors throughout the data collection period.

4. Results and discussions

4.1 Participants’ demographic characteristics

4.1.1 Distribution of the study participants by living area

As shown in Table 2, the majority of study participants 250 (78.6%) live in urban areas while the rest 68 (21.4%) live in rural areas during the closure of the university due to the COVID -19 pandemic.

		Frequency	%	Cumulative %
Valid	Rural	68	21.40	21.40
	Urban	250	78.60	100.
	Total	318	100.

Table 2.

Current living area.

4.1.2 Distribution of the study participants by gender

The study involved both males and females. Table 3 displays the distribution of the study participants in terms of sex.

		Frequency	%	Cumulative %
Valid	Male	241	75.80	75.80
	Female	77	24.20	100.
	Total	318	100.

Table 3.

Gender.

Table 3 shows that out of the 318 study participants, the males account for 241 (75.80%) while the females account for 77 (24.20%).

4.1.3 Distribution of the study participants by age

The study participants were drawn from different age categories. Table 4 depicts a summary of the study participants in a 10-year age range category.

		Frequency	%	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Under 24	14	4.40	4.40
	25–34	260	81.80	86.20
	35–44	38	11.90	98.10
	45–54	4	1.30	99.40
	55–64	2	.60	100.
	Total	318	100.

Table 4.

Participants’ age category.

As indicated in Table 4, a large proportion of the study participants 260 (80.8%) belong to the age range of 25–34 years, followed successively by those who belong to the age range of 35–44 years 38 (11.9%), and those in the age category of under 24 years of age 14 (4.4%).

4.1.4 Distribution of study participants by field of study

Participants of the study were drawn proportionately from diverse fields of study being offered at Haramaya University. The sample was taken from all the eleven colleges of the University based on the sampling frame which consists of the list of postgraduate students actively attending the study programs during the COVID-19 outbreak. Hence, Table 5 depicts the distribution of the study participants across the eleven colleges of the University.

		Frequency	%	Cumulative %
Valid	Agricultural and Environmental Sciences	111	34.90	34.9
	Business and Economics	9	2.80	37.7
	Health and Medical Sciences	65	20.40	58.2
	Natural and Computational Sciences	23	7.20	65.4
	Social Sciences and Humanities	35	11.00	76.4
	Education and Behavioral Sciences	26	8.20	84.6
	Computing and Informatics	9	2.80	87.4
	Haramaya Institute of Technology	14	4.40	91.8
	Law	5	1.60	93.4
	Veterinary Medicine	14	4.40	97.8
	Sport Science Academy	7	2.20	100
	Total	318	100

Table 5.

Participants field of study.

Table 5 shows that proportionally high percentage of participants in the sampling distribution was taken from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences 111 (34.9%) followed respectively by the College of Health and Medical Sciences (20.4%) and the College of Social Sciences and Humanities 35 (11%). The least percentage of participants were taken from the College of Law 5(1.6%) followed by the Sport Science Academy 7(2.2%).

4.2 The enablers or barriers to attending online education system

4.2.1 Perceived experience on the nature of online teaching-learning process

The extent of participants’ perceived experiences on the nature of online teaching-learning process is depicted in Table 6.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	M	SD
1. The online learning provided with improved accessibility to information	318	3.02	1.28
2. The online learning offered access to standardized and updated contents	318	2.80	1.24
3. I found online learning cost-effective	318	3.00	1.41
4. The online learning enhanced the learning process	318	2.99	1.26
5. The online learning enabled me to use my time effectively	318	3.11	1.28
6. All things being considered, I prefer online learning to face-to-face learning	318	2.70	1.34
7. The online learning platform increased my interest in learning	318	2.77	1.27
Valid N (listwise)	318

Table 6.

Participants’ perceived experiences on the nature of online teaching-learning process.

The study sought to find enablers and barriers perceived by the study participants in relation to the nature of the online teaching-learning process. As it can be seen from Table 6, the study revealed that the study participants had positive perceptions towards all seven (7) items pertaining to the nature of the online teaching-learning process as indicated by above-average mean score. By arranging the mean scores for each of the items in their descending order, it could be seen the extent to which the nature of the online teaching modality was perceived by the study participants as enabling in terms of using their time effectively (3.11), providing them access to information (3.02), cost-effectiveness (3.0), enhancing the learning process (2.99), offering them access to standardized and updated contents (2.80), and pulled their preference towards the online modality as compared to the face-to-face modality despite recent exposure to the former (2.70).

Participants perceived various degrees of negative experiences on technological issues. Table 7 indicates that participants agree that there was slow interruption and unreliable internet connection. Although it is possible to understand that there were good experiences among individuals, Table 7 depicts that there were barriers to technological issues for participants to some extent. In this regard, participants had problems/limited access to computer or other devices used for online learning, consistent power/electricity supply suitable for online learning, technical skills of using the computer and the internet, to afford the internet cost, and problems with consistency and reliability of the online learning platform.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	M	SD.
1. I had lack of/limited access to computer or other devices used for online learning	318	3.04	1.43
2. The internet connection was slow, interrupted, and unreliable	317	3.54	1.50
3. There was consistent power/electricity supply suitable for online learning	318	2.75	1.45
4. **I had a problem in technical skills of using the computer and the internet	318	2.73	1.40
5. The internet cost is affordable to be used for online-learning	318	2.61	1.37
6. The online learning platform was consistent and reliable	318	2.70	1.25
Valid N (listwise)	317

Table 7.

Perceived experience on technological issues.

From Table 8, participants agree to some extent on perceived experience regarding process of academic issues. Such experiences were perceived to some extent as the quality of the learning materials was high, and the learning materials were designed to facilitate learning independently. There was a hard time understanding the learning materials by their own selves; there was adequate communication between the teachers and students during the online learning, and there was good interaction among students during the online learning, which obtained adequate support from course instructors and adequate guidance and support were provided from the department. The library service provision was suitable for online learning, and the online education was well organized and administered, They had difficulty adjusting to the online learning platform, but they found the online education corresponded with their learning style. Variety of assessment methods were used during online education, the assessments used fairly measure knowledge, skills, and attitude change in students, and the assessments were fairly distributed in terms of time.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	M	SD
1. The quality of the learning materials was high	318	2.77	1.31
2. The learning materials were designed to facilitate learning independently	318	3.00	1.23
3. I had hard time understanding the learning materials by my own	318	3.00	1.28
4. There was adequate communication between the teachers and students during the online learning	318	2.79	1.33
5. There was good interaction among students during the online learning	318	2.66	1.28
6. I obtained adequate support from course instructors	318	2.74	1.19
7. Adequate guidance and support were provided from the department	318	2.81	1.32
8. The library service provision was suitable for online learning	318	2.49	1.36
9. The online education was well organized and administered	318	2.62	1.24
10. I had difficulty adjusting to the online learning platform	318	2.98	1.27
11. Variety of teaching-learning methods were used during the online learning	318	2.53	1.21
12. I found the online education correspond with my learning style	318	2.83	2.51
13. Variety of assessment methods were used during the online education	318	2.67	1.26
14. The assessments used fairly measure knowledge, skills, and attitude change in students	317	2.83	1.42
15. The assessments were fairly distributed in terms of time.	318	2.74	1.26
Valid N (listwise)	317

Table 8.

Perceived experience on process of academic issues.

The average score in Table 8 indicates that participants disagree with perceiving experience as the library service provision was suitable for online learning and the usage of variety of teaching-learning methods during online learning.

Table 9, it is indicated that participants agree to some extent on issues include they had limited space at home for attending online learning, having several responsibilities to fulfill at home that negatively affect their involvement in online learning. They had to work for generating income alongside their online learning due to financial constraints, and they had problems fulfilling basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, etc.) that negatively influence engaging learning, mobility restrictions due to COVID-19 had negative effect on my participation in online learning their culture was not convenient for online learning, conflict/disagreement in the family affected my engagement in online learning, their parent’s lack of knowhow about internet affected my online learning and their friends do not encourage me to attend education through online learning. Participants also agree on issues of sociopolitical instability at local and national levels negatively affected their participation in online learning. Participants, however, disagree that there was a consistent power/electricity supply conducive to online learning and that the internet cost was affordable to be used for online learning.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	M	SD.
1. I had limited space at home for attending online learning	316	3.12	1.41
2. I have several responsibilities to fulfill at home that negatively affect my involvement in online learning	318	3.14	1.35
3. I had to work for generating income alongside my online learning due to financial constraint	318	3.12	1.38
4. I had problems in fulfilling basic needs (food, clothing, shelter etc) that negatively influence my engage learning	318	2.72	1.35
5. There was consistent power / electricity supply conducive for online learning	317	2.49	1.33
6. **The internet cost was affordable to be used for online-learning	318	2.30	1.262
7. Mobility-restrictions due to Covid-19 had a negative effect on my participation in online learning	318	3.19	1.39
8. Sociopolitical instability at local and national levels negatively affected my participation in online learning	318	3.47	1.42
9. *Our culture is not convenient for online learning.	318	2.81	1.43
10. *Conflict/disagreement in the family affected my engagement in online learning.	317	2.70	1.33
11. *My parent’s lack of knowhow about internet affected my online learning.	318	2.86	1.34
12. *My friends do not encourage me to attend education though online learning	317	2.67	1.34
Valid N (listwise)	313

Table 9.

Assessment on domestic/contextual issues.

Data on the perceived experiences of enabling and barriers to online learning during COVID-19 were qualitatively collected. And thus, the qualitative data analysis indicates that there were agreements among participants to enable experience of the system. Participants, for example, agree that the online education system was considered an opportunity and an attempt to use the platform for the delivery of education. Related to this, one of the key informants stated that “We are good as a beginner for the online system. We have at least learned something new as a complement to the conventional education system.” The study reveals that there are experiences on enablers in attending online education system. These include access to information, access to standardized and updated content, enhances learning process, enables use of time effectively, enables to increase interest in students learning and it is cost-effective. In the same way, the studies of Twigg [23] and Means et al. [24] showed that online teaching is cost-effective. In addition, it is indicated that online teaching has the potential to reduce the cost of education [21]. Furthermore, it is shown that online courses, videos, and games make learning more accessible, engaging, and contextualized [29]. Thus, it is possible to understand that online learning during COVID-19 provides opportunity for HELs in Ethiopia to upgrade their technical infrastructure and in making online learning a core aspect of operation.

The study also shows the existence of adequate communication and interaction among teachers and students and support or guidance from course instructors as well as from departments. Online learning enables the provisions of library services to be suitable and it is relatively well organized and administered. Furthermore, the study found that online education corresponds with the consideration of students’ learning style, variety, and fairness of assessment methods, opportunity, and attempt to use the platform for the delivery of education. In more detail, the online education system during COVID-19 enabled to meet students from a distance, conduct classes online while students are even on campus, teach anytime and from anywhere undertake online thesis and dissertation examinations, and meet thereby reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection. Besides these best experiences, online education is easy to share materials for all students at a time and has a high tendency to student-centered as it makes students self-reliant. It can be inferred from this study that running online education was appreciated by instructors due to its relative advantage of being the best solution during crises of COVID-19. In the same way, studies like Gautam [83] confirmed that online education enables learning and teaching to be more accessible in both time and space.

However, the study also revealed that barriers to online education include unreliable internet connection, limited access to computer or other devices used for online learning, and problems with electricity supply suitable for online learning. There are also problems related to technical skills of using the computer and the internet, afford the internet cost, and consistency and reliability of online learning platform. In addition, there is difficulty in adjusting to online learning platform and usage of a variety of teaching-learning methods.

Furthermore, the study revealed other barriers to online education, such as limited space at home for attending online learning, burdens of several responsibilities to be fulfilled at home instead of freely involve in online learning, financial constraint, problems related to fulfilling basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, etc.), mobility-restrictions all which have a negative effect on learners’ participation in online learning. More specifically, learner’s culture, conflict/disagreement in the family, lack of knowhow about internet usage among parents and friends of learners, sociopolitical instability at local and national levels, lack of full awareness and unfamiliarity of teachers and students with the online education system were challenges which affect online education during COVID-19. In support of these findings, studies by Gautam [83], Heng and Sol [84] pointed out that problem with internet connection, lack of experience and insufficient training among teachers, and lack of required resources and tools, are indicated as challenges of online education. Heng and Sol [84] further stated that educational institutions, teachers, and students are not ready to break away from conventional learning and teaching approaches.

From the above results, it is plausible to infer that online education system had several barriers that hampered its smooth and effective delivery. Hence, it does not suffice to say it was successful and efficient owing to the multifaceted challenges/barriers in the context of Haramaya University and probably in Eastern Ethiopian context in general. This result, however, contradicts what Gautam’s [83] claim about online education: online education is efficient, affordable, improve student attendance, and fits different forms of learning styles.

4.3 Experiences of psychosocial wellbeing during online education aimed COVID-19

Table 10 indicates the COVD-19 risk perception where participants disagree on issues including, COVID-19 exits everywhere, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will greatly affect them personally. In case of infection with COVID-19, the consequences for their health will be severe but they did agree with the statement “COVID-19 is just a common cold no need to worry about it.” One reason for the contrasting result could be the use of two negatives in the item leading to misunderstanding of the core message the item conveys. This table also indicates that there was strong disagreement among participants on issues, including they have no means of control over the COVID-19 pandemic, they will infect themselves as well as others with COVID-19, people close to them will die of COVID-19 and believe that people who cough are infected with COVID-19.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	M	SD
1. I have no means of control over the COVID-19 pandemic.	318	1.76	1.298
2. COVID-19 exits everywhere	318	2.49	1.576
3. I will infect myself with COVID-19.	318	1.52	1.566
4. It is likely that I will be infected with COVID-19	318	1.56	1.435
5. People close to me are infected with COVID-19.	318	1.42	1.453
6. I will infect other people with COVID-19.	318	1.42	1.436
7. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will greatly affect me personally	318	2.08	1.503
8. In case of infection with COVID-19 the consequences for my health will be severe.	318	1.96	1.482
9. I will die of COVID-19.	318	1.29	1.375
10. People close to me will die of COVID-19.	316	1.33	1.432
11. I believe that people who cough are infected with COVID-19	318	1.40	1.303
12. I do not agree with the statement “COVID-19 is just a common cold no need to worry about it”	318	1.89	2.712
Valid N (listwise)	316

Table 10.

COVID-19 risk perception.

Table 11 indicates that the study participants agree to some extent there were psychological problems during COVID-19 at various degrees of severity. In such regard, it is indicated, for example, that the participants had mild to severe levels of anxiety, depression, and stress with average mean scores of 3.39, 2.92, and 2.30 respectively.

	Very Less	Mild	Moderate	Severe	M	SD
Depression	16.7	10.7	36.2	36.5	2.92	1.066
Anxiety	6.9	8.2	23.9	60.7	3.39	.906
Stress	24.2	35.8	25.5	14.2	2.30	.991

Table 11.

Depression, anxiety, and stress.

Table 12 indicates that participants disagreed to some extent on as they have felt cheerful, calm, relaxed, active and vigorous, and woke up feeling fresh and rested during COVID-19and their daily life has been filled with things that interest them.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	M	SD
1. I have felt cheerful and in good spirits while in the situation of the Covid-19	316	2.36	1.506
2. I have felt calm and relaxed during the time of COVID-19.	318	2.10	1.473
3. I have felt active and vigorous during COVID-19.	318	2.59	1.545
4. I woke up feeling fresh and rested.	318	2.55	1.565
5. My daily life has been filled with things that interest me.	318	2.49	1.562
Valid N (listwise)	316

Table 12.

Subjective or social wellbeing.

As to the psychosocial problems students faced during COVID-19, the key informants indicated the presence of some frustration and stress among students due to fear of missing classes because of unfamiliarity with the online system, poor internet connection, and lack of access to internet. In some colleges, students had severe frustration with the online system, and they even asked for reading materials to be given to them rather than attending online education. They had a fear that they may not complete their education on time due to the challenges they encountered from the online education system and lack of the required resources (e.g., laptop and internet access) to attend education online.

Furthermore, the study also revealed that participants had severe depression, anxiety, and stress. And there were also problems related to frustration, stress, and fear of missing classes because of unfamiliarity with the online system. As a result, students were exposed to tension as they were not able to attend online education effectively. In support of this, Armstrong [85] indicated that online learning lacks human interaction, and it leaves students without sharing various positive experiences with their peer group. In the same way, the study by Sun et al. [86] indicated that students and some teachers had tensions in getting familiar with the online system. In other way, it is indicated that due to the absence of physical interaction between students and teachers, there were experiences related to sense of isolation.

Moreover, unaffordable internet costs for students with low economic backgrounds create psychological challenges in their online learning process. In support of this idea, Jaggars et al. [87] mention that students from low socio-economic families cannot afford broadband connection and basic equipment, such as laptops/computers or tablets. One can infer from the above results that unfamiliarity with the online system and weak internet connection, among others, caused some frustration and stress among students and instructors.

5. Conclusion

COVID-19 has disrupted most industries in the world. Education is the only industry that is completely transferred to online mode in most countries around the world. Online learning was the best solution for continuing education during the pandemic, especially in tertiary education through the barriers/challenges that result in negative consequences in learning-teaching process and its assessment to some extent. There are also problems related to risk perceptions and psychosocial well-being among learners of online education system during COVID-19.

6. Recommendations

Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are forwarded.

• The online education system should be further strengthened by overcoming its challenges and should exist side by side face-to-face education. However, it should not be thought to replace face-to-face education.

• In order to make the staff and students familiar with and to avoid the negative attitude towards online education, continuous training and awareness creation programs should be organized for the staff and postgraduate students by Haramaya University.

• The university is also required to have an improved (a large capacity) server (if possible, a separate server) dedicated to online education. This would facilitate the smooth and continuous running of online education.

• The availability of an uninterrupted electric power supply also plays a pivotal role in the provision of online education. In this regard, the university is required to have a reserve power supply system (using power generators) if possible, at college level or for a group of colleges in a pool.

• Rather than massive implementation, the online education system needs to be selectively implemented in some programs and colleges. This is because some programs (for instance, programs that are practice/laboratory oriented) are not convenient for online education.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the financial support provided by Haramaya University for the study.