{"id":5200,"date":"2025-06-19T23:46:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T23:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T03:18:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T03:18:28","slug":"deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published as: <strong>Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Original Article Link: <a href='https:\/\/journals.dut.ac.za\/index.php\/ajims\/article\/view\/930' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Read Original Article<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Download PDF: <a href='https:\/\/journals.dut.ac.za\/index.php\/ajims\/article\/view\/930\/708' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Click Here to Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Abstract<\/h2>\n<p>Assumptions and facts exist about the various challenges rural learners face when transitioning into university education in South Africa due to the pedagogical differences between secondary and university education. However, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic compounded the transitioning challenges of students because most of the universities, especially the selected university, utilise online learning, which is alien to first-year students who are transitioning from rural high schools to the university. This study explores the challenges and solutions associated with first-year students transitioning to a new level of education during the COVID-19 pandemic. An asset-based approach was used to theorise the study within the Transformative Paradigm (TP), while Participatory Research (PR) was used to design the study. These are relevant because both TP and PR are targeted towards transforming people\u2019s predicaments. The participants consisted of ten first-year students selected using a convenient sampling technique. Data was collected using electronic interviews such as email, WhatsApp messages, and phone calls. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The study revealedthat first-year rural university students\u2019 inability to use online learning tools effectively and unstable internet connections in the rural community are major challenges. The study, therefore, concludes that theprovision of internet access and students\u2019 readiness for adaptability are the possible solutions.<\/p>\n<h2>Authors<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bunmi Isaiah Omodan (Walter Sisulu University)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Keywords<\/h2>\n<p>COVID-19, first-year students, rural communities, rural university<\/p>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p>References not available for this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published as: Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa Original&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[2153,1060,2078,1581,2079],"class_list":["post-5200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-ajims","tag-covid-19","tag-first-year-students","tag-rural-communities","tag-rural-university","wpcat-124-id"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was originally published as: Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa Original...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IJSSASS Repository\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T23:46:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T03:18:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"195\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771\"},\"headline\":\"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T23:46:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T03:18:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/\"},\"wordCount\":276,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ajims\",\"covid-19\",\"first-year students\",\"rural communities\",\"rural university\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T23:46:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T03:18:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\",\"name\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\",\"description\":\"Open Access Library\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"IJSSASS\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization\",\"name\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\",\"alternateName\":\"IJSSASS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":195,\"caption\":\"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","og_description":"This article was originally published as: Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa Original...","og_url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/","og_site_name":"IJSSASS Repository","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass","article_published_time":"2025-06-19T23:46:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T03:18:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":195,"url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771"},"headline":"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa","datePublished":"2025-06-19T23:46:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T03:18:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/"},"wordCount":276,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization"},"keywords":["ajims","covid-19","first-year students","rural communities","rural university"],"articleSection":["Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/","name":"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa - IJSSASS Repository","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-19T23:46:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T03:18:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/deconstructing-the-challenges-of-covid-19-on-first-year-rural-university-students-in-south-africa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Deconstructing the Challenges of COVID-19 on First-Year Rural University Students in South Africa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/","name":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES","description":"Open Access Library","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization"},"alternateName":"IJSSASS","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#organization","name":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES","alternateName":"IJSSASS","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/c-users-user-desktop-logo-pnglogo-3.png","width":300,"height":195,"caption":"INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ijssass"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/adf9bae5731958270e2140cfc1af3771","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2404e10f252fd74bce698fdfc0296b3cfb701b99d14951364bf9586aaa0c4a8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal"],"url":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5269,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5200\/revisions\/5269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}