The mental impact of digital divide due to COVID-19 pandemic induced emergency online learning at undergraduate level: Evidence from undergraduate students from Dhaka City

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 outbreak has drawn out institutions to closure with several challenges for university students of undergraduate level in Dhaka city including an emergency shift from traditional learning to online learning, which associated digital divide, left several arguments in response to technological inefficiency, pedagogic inefficiency of teachers, inappropriate study environment and so on. Previous literature shows that the COVID-19 is imposing a threat to mental health all over the nation since its spread. This study intended to evaluate the emerging reasons for psychological distress among university students of undergraduate level in Dhaka, also assess the execution methods, barriers of online learning, and lastly, the attitudes of students regarding online learning throughout the pandemic. METHODS: A mixed methodology was used to conduct the research. Primary data has been collected using simple purposive sampling on 180 undergraduate students, 9 interviews were taken including 6 in-depth interviews of different university undergraduates from Dhaka city and also 3 (KIIs) from specialists of pedagogy and medical anthropology, and a high official from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). RESULTS: Based on the Kessler K-10 distress scale, the study found that the prevalence of no psychological distress (16.67%) followed by mild (40%), moderate (30.56%), and severe psychological distress (12.78%). CONCLUSION: The results concluded considering several reasons for mild to severe psychological distress. The findings suggest some recommendations to accumulate the process of online learning effectively and also strategies to regulate the preferred mode of learning in future.