Abstract

The academic community was ravaged by COVID-19 in many ways, and particularly impacted the lives of the indigent learners in higher education. This study aims at assessing the academic and health insecurities of the indigent students in Zamboanga City State Polytechnic College. A comprehensive validated survey questionnaire on learning and health were adapted for the study. A total of 66 indigent students were purposively selected for the study. After the rigorous statistical treatments, the results showed that the respondents have a high willingness and intent to go to school despite the pandemic; they had high value for their education. Nonetheless, they had reservations because they had moderate digital competence and the cost of online education. It was further revealed that female indigent students had more fear and anxiety amidst the pandemic compared to their male counterparts. Their academic adaptive strategies were the use of online learning modalities and modular distance education. Health insecurities of the respondents included worries, apprehension, borderline anxiety, and depression. Their adaptive strategies were the use of open communication with others, complying with the health protocols, and following the guidelines set by the government. This research is critical for making learning and health policies for the academe and mitigating the impact through fact-based processes.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Indigent students, academic-health insecurities, adaptive strategies