Abstract:

Nigerian public higher institutions are characterized by dearth of resources, underfunding, and poor implementation of policies, among others. Students from these institutions tend to suffer greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies conducted globally have demonstrated the debilitating impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental wellbeing of people across different ages and spheres of life. The negative effects of the pandemic appear to be far worse for university students who have not had continuous access to education like their counterparts in private universities within the country, developed countries and some parts of Africa. Hence, this study explored impacts of educational exclusion on the mental wellbeing of students in four Nigeria public Universities. The social justice model and the resilience theory provided a theoretical lens for this study. The interpretive phenomenological analysis was the research design adopted to make sense of the lived experiences of the students as it relates to educational exclusion. Eight students were recruited through purposive sampling technique to participate in the research process. Data generation took place via video-conferencing focused group discussion. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analytic framework was used in analysing the data collected. The analysis of data revealed the unique conceptualisations of exclusion as conceived by the participants of this study. Also, specific impacts of exclusion on their mental wellbeing came to fore during the study, such as experience of negative emotions, loss of opportunities, feelings of isolation, among others. Further discussion in the study revealed various coping strategies adopted by the participants to cushion the effects of this exclusion which underscores how resilience comes to play amidst adversity. The feeling of invisibility of the university students, and the obvious apathy of governmental institutions as well as other significant stakeholders to the continuous lack of access to education during this time as pointed out by participants in the study, have raised issues of exclusion, social justice and access. Recommendations were made to address these issues through participatory leadership, proper planning and increased engagement between student bodies and government institutions, among other recommendations.

Keywords:

Educational Exclusion, Mental Wellbeing, COVID-19, Social Justice.