Third of students dissatisfied with life in pandemic

One in three students in the Netherlands are currently seriously dissatisfied with their lives, giving life in general a failing grade. This is mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic and the consequences of the lockdown, student association ISO reported after surveying 7,500 students.

Initiator Martijn Janse is not surprised that students are unhappy, but was shocked by how many of them are having serious problems, he said to NOS. "Many students are in quarantine for a long time, do not see their friends and have little contact with teachers."

First-year students in particular are struggling with loneliness. "They live in a new student city where they haven't made any friends yet," Janse said. And due to social distancing and lockdown, the traditional first-year events in which students meet their peers and get to know their new city, largely couldn't happen.

According to Janse, lockdown is also having consequences on the actual studies. "It is difficult to retreat in large, crowded student houses to study quietly or prepare for exams. But online lectures also do not offer the interaction they are used to."

The researchers found that despite the difficulties, students are on average adhering to the coronavirus rules as best they can. "99 percent of students say they quarantined after testing positive, while for the rest of the country 72 percent said they did," Janse said.