Abstract

BACKGROUND: Several colleges were closed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is not clear if school closure has curbed the incidence of the infection.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the perception of adolescent college students on school reopening and associated factors.

METHODOLOGY: This was a school-based cross-sectional study. A two-stage sampling technique was used to select five hundred adolescent college students from six secondary schools in the Enugu metropolis, Nigeria. Data were analysed with IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software version 25.

RESULTS: The mean age of the students was 15.1±1.7 years and the majority, 56.4% were females. A higher proportion of the respondents, 78.0% were willing to return to school. For those not willing to return to school, the major reason was the preference for homestay until the pandemic is over, 57.3%. The majority of the students, 67.6% had their learning improved during the pandemic. More than half of the students, 65.0% had online classes during the pandemic. Predictors of willingness to return to school amidst the COVID-19 pandemic included being a male student, (AOR=0.304, 95%CI: 0.189-0.489), and being from a family of high socio-economic class, (AOR=0.363, 95%CI: 0.154- 0.855).

CONCLUSION: Closure of schools should be revisited, with enforcement of all preventive measures. Alternative methods for education such as e-learning seem to create a divide between the rich and the poor. It is therefore pertinent to develop a bridging plan to fill the gap created by this divide.

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