Predictors of Academic Resilience during COVID-19 School Closures in Zambia

Background & Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted children’s development and education worldwide. Existing literature from previous epidemics suggests these indirect effects disproportionately harm impoverished children. Despite this imbalance, little is currently known about the educational experiences of impoverished children during COVID-19 related school closures in sub-Saharan Africa. This knowledge is crucial as governments and schools seek to recover and progress towards the sustainable development goal of inclusive and equitable quality education for all. This study contributes to this effort by exploring the experiences of primary school-aged children during COVID-19 school closures in poor neighborhoods of Lusaka, Zambia. We examine how material deprivation, caregiver involvement, attitudes toward school, and self-efficacy predict academic resilience.

Method: A cross-sectional survey design with random cluster sampling was utilized to collect data. Participants included 270 children in grades 5-7 from 3 primary schools in poor neighborhoods in Lusaka, Zambia. We examined four categorical outcomes that assessed children’s educational experiences during COVID-19 school closures which included whether the child 1) continued their education at home, 2) feels behind in school, 3) has lost motivation for school, or 4) has developed worries about school. Predictor variables include relative material deprivation (α = .71), caregiver involvement in the child’s education (α = .85), attitude toward school (α = .72), and self-efficacy (α = .82). We controlled for age, gender, grade level, and academic performance before school closures. Regression paths were estimated using a probit model in Mplus. We utilized Weighted Least Square Mean and Variance (WLSMV) estimator.

Results: Descriptive statistics show the sample is 56% female and 43% male. The average age is 13.0 (SD = 1.43). Most students (77.78%) live in very low-income neighborhoods. The majority of respondents reported continuing their education at home (83.70%), losing no motivation for school (77.44%), and feeling behind in school (77.41%). About two-thirds reported developing worries about school and the future. Model fit indices demonstrated good model fit to the data (RMSEA=.031; CFI=.930; TLI=.919; SRMR=.082). Results demonstrated that caregiver involvement predicted increased rates of continuing education at home (β=.272; p=.038), material deprivation predicted feeling further behind (β=.142; p=.024), positive attitudes about school predicted decreased loss of motivation (β=-.635; p<.001) and worries about school (β=-1.074; p<.001), and self-efficacy predicted developing worries about school (β=.790; p=.001). Being female also predicted greater loss of motivation (β=.182; p=.015).

Conclusion & Implications: Findings highlight important evidence that pandemic school lockdowns have been challenging for primary school students in Lusaka as the majority feel behind and have developed worries about the future. Impoverished students, female students, and those with less caregiver academic involvement have been disproportionately affected. Implications for social work practice include provision of holistic needs assessment and supports for these at-risk groups if they are to succeed academically alongside peers who were less affected by school closures. More research is needed to determine contextual influences on academic resilience during the pandemic on micro and macro levels.