Financing for Higher Education in Developing Nations Due to COVID- 19
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Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
Financing for Higher Education in Developing
Nations Due to COVID- 19
Syed Far Abid Hossain
College of Business Administration, IUBAT—International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, 4 Embankment Drive Road, Sector-10, Uttara Model Town, Dhaka 1230
Bangladesh
E-mail: abid@iubat.edu
Jamee Ahmad
College of Business Administration, IUBAT—International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, 4 Embankment Drive Road, Sector-10, Uttara Model Town, Dhaka 1230
Bangladesh
E-mail: jamee.ahmad@iubat.edu
Zahir Rayhan Salim
College of Business Administration, IUBAT—International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, 4 Embankment Drive Road, Sector-10, Uttara Model Town, Dhaka 1230
Bangladesh
E-mail: zahir.rayhan@iubat.edu
Kazi Mohiuddin
School of Transportation, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, Postal Code 200135, China; Email: kazi.mohiuddin@yahoo.com
Abdul Qadeer
School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China;
E-mail: qadeerakli@gmail.com
Abstract - Prerequisite for higher education in developing countries is extremely affected due to COVID-19 recently. Education
ministry and WHO has taken measures to protect the students from infection as well as tried to ensure sustainable educational
development. Although COVID-19 is investigated in terms of healthcare and coping strategies, little has investigated so far about
education financing. In this paper, a detailed scenario of funding in the higher education sector in developing countries due to
COVID-19 impact has investigated. The study utilizes person administered survey of 400 students to examine the study. The study
discovers that the opportunity for higher education is not satisfactory due to various hindrances and lack of financial capability. It is
also predictable that this investigation can provide a milestone for those who are related to the education sector or even though who
are concerned about social responsibility and sustainable educational development. The study is conducted with a small sample size
(n=400), which may affect the generalizability of the research.
Keywords: Financial Assistance; Sustainable education; Higher Education; Developing countries; COVID-19
1. INTRODUCTION
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak around the world, higher education financing is at stake due to other necessary measures like
healthcare and movement control policy. By 2022, universities in Denmark are expected to miss approximately one-tenth of
their up-to-date funding from the Government (Adam, 2020). In 2006, China successfully reformed Education Finance by
comparing 1600 provinces in China (Ding, Lu, & Ye, 2020), and in 2018, China enrolled 4,92,185 international students from
different parts of the world (China Daily, 2019). China secured the number 1 position in the world (Enago Academy, 2018) for
research and scientific publication as a long-run effect of higher education finance reform policy. In developed countries,
education is treated as the most valuable asset. Former U.S. President Barack Obama (2016) stated that there is nothing more
important than providing everyone the possible best education. As a consequence of his thought, he raised Pell grant award to
USD 5550 since 2008, and 9.5 million students received it in 2012-13 school year. Also, for most Americans, the first 4000
USD of a college education is free (Education.com, 2016). Distribution of public resources based on equity and efficiency to
reform secondary education policy is measured
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Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
Figure1: Daily fatality scenario in the world, source: (Our World in Data, 2020)
(Kafumbu, 2020). According to figure 1, the daily fatality rate in the world is a threat for continuance of HE. In addition, the
overall learning processes of higher education is considered as complex process and investigators suggested mergers of
universities (Savović, 2020) and performance-based funding (Adam, 2020). According to Miyan (2013), most of the people in
developing nations cannot pursue higher education due to resource constraints. The number of public Universities is not
adequate comparing to the number of students completing higher secondary studies. In most of the cases this is due to financial
inability of parents or guardians; because the tuition fees in University level especially in private university is pretty high and it
is not affordable for many people. As a result, their dream come to an end with full of disappointment and anxiety. In the last
decade, the number of private Universities in developing nations increased tremendously but still for bright middle class
students it is out-of-the-way because of financial inability. But, the society expects recent graduates to be capable enough to
deal with difficult troubles in technology handling (Webster, 2020). The broad objective of this particular article is to examine
in depth about the key issues those are responsible for pursuing higher education in developing nations. However, the specific
objective is to clarify how financial difficulty is the major hindrance for achieving quality higher degrees in developing nations.
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT
Over the years, the theory of financial distress (Gordon, 1970) investigated financial issues in various aspects. This study is
consistent with the theory of financial distress as during COVID-19, financial measures are primary concerns after healthcare
and treatment. Number of achievements of private universities are appreciated by TIB (2015) including creation of higher
education opportunity with m-learning (Hossain, Shan, & Nurunnabi, 2019) for a large number of student, emergence as an
alternative to highly expensive foreign education, establishment of dedicated universities variety seeking advancement
(Hossain, Nurunnabi, Hussain, Saha, & Wang, 2019), creating study opportunity for professionals, scholarship opportunity for
meritorious, poor and freedom fighters' children etc. Miyan (2013) considered "financing" as a barrier of Knowledge Based
Area Development concept and it might be partially resolved by Educational Loan Scheme by the help of GOB or NGO, or by
establishing Educational Bank. Due to globalization, increased number of completion, low government funding and better
attempt to admit more international students, the U.K. higher education boosted the "marketisation" (Kalafatis et al, 2016) but
the matter of fact is many students go to U.K. and can't pursue higher education due to financial inability and involve with
various legal or illegal work.
TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) is another theory which supports the technological acceptance (Venkatesh, Thong, &
Xu, 2012) although financial issues are key concerns to support this theory. Researchers investigated that limited resources and
insufficient facilities such as device based learning opportunities (Hossain, Ying, & Saha, 2019) are the major challenges for
quality higher education in developing nations. Also, quality of higher education in Developinng nations has been deteriorating
steadily, in some areas quite alarmingly, over the last two decades (Salahuddin & Aminuzzaman, 2011). Brand identity and
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 434
Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
brand image could be vital issue for brand extension especially in the case of higher education (Yuan et al, 2016). As a result,
many private universities are under threat to impede their operation in extended campuses which are situated mainly outside of
the capital city of Bangladesh. According to Sarwar and Khaled (2014), Degree colleges that account for the lion's share of
enrolment at the level of higher education suffer from inadequate infra-structural facilities (libraries and laboratories), and lack
of qualified teachers with satisfactory emoluments and allowances. In addition, in these degree colleges' voters', not 'teachers'
are recruited that adversely affect the quality of university education" – (Masum, 2015)
The cost of higher education in a developing country is cheaper compared to developed nations (Bhuiyan and Hakim, 1995).
But quality is more important than cost - Sarkar et al. (2013). The result is no Bangladeshi University is in the list of top 400
World's best universities (U. S. News, 2011). Also, Government funding for higher education and research is not adequate and
University Grant Commission fails to provide fund according to the need of the public universities (Mobassern and Muhammed,
2010) so in this century Universities are vastly competing specially for international students (Hemsley-Brown, 2016).
According to Juditha (2013), Private universities contribute substantially to the higher education sector in Developinng nations.
They offer an educational opportunity to qualified students who cannot find seats in the public universities as the seats are very
limited as per the report of Financial Express, (2015). "Grameen Kalyan", one of the divisions of Grameen Bank, has increased
its objectives via micro credit to include higher education which is known as Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP). The
goal is to identify talented young villagers and help them to finance University education through loans. Till December 2014,
Grameen Kalyan provided 15.94 million USD (X.E. Currency converter, 2015) for Higher Education Loan (Grameen Kalyan,
2010)
According to the first annual survey of student finances by the Halifax bank (U.K.), 52% of students work to fund their studies
and living costs while at university and the average part-time weekly wage across the U.K. is £112.20 but the top 15% of
students take home more than £200 (The Guardian, 2015). In developing nations, the per capita income is $1190 (bdnews24,
2014) which is less than the part time weekly income of a U.K. student. Regarding involvement of Universities for financing
higher education IUBAT-International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Bangladesh set an example by
establishing a higher education finance program name, KBAD-Knowledge Based Area Development. Under this program
IUBAT has set out the long term vision of producing one technical graduate from each village as a step towards community
self-reliance. Recently China set an eye catching example for promoting higher education around the globe. China Scholarship
Council (CSC) offers scholarship in multiple disciplines for Bachelor, Masters and PhD programs throughout China in various
recognized Universities. Such initiative by Chinese Government attracted the developing countries. Innumerable applicants are
competing to win a scholarship offered by CSC. Unfortunately, it's a matter of regret that the Chinese students don't have this
scholarship facility within China. As a result, many of the Chinese students try to achieve scholarship in other developed
countries (China Scholarship Council, 2016). Many Private Universities are operating in developing nations without even a
permanent campus or they may have just a place for permanent campus but they are still operating in hired campus which is not
standard enough for providing quality higher education for the students. On the other hand, instead of increasing education
budget every year the Government sometimes decreases the budget such as in 2006-07 fiscal year 15.9% of total budget was
allocated for education but in 2015-16 it dropped as below as 11.6% only (Wasim & Tuhin, 2016)
Personal Economic
Lack of education financing
Low average income
Political Lack of interest by commercial banks
Family support
inadequate fund Lack of interest by other financial
institutions
Problem of distribution Gender issue for
financing
Political unrest
Financial
difficulties
Family issues Lack of trust Risk for investment
Personal Risk factors
Lack of secured financing Mentality
Lack of social welfare
Lack of credit rating Lack of liquid money
Social Security
Psychological
Figure 2: Conceptual Model for financial difficulties regarding higher education using Fishbone diagram
Donche and Gijgels, (2013), stated that innumerable personal and environmental related factors are associated to student
learning. The major factors behind financial difficulties are shown through a fishbone diagram above. Six major factors have
been presented in the diagram which are expanded further in the hypotheses development section below.
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 435Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
A. Personal factors and financial issues in higher education (HE)
Average income in the developing countries is not satisfactory (Buckley & Michel, 2020) in attaining sustainable higher
education (HE). As a result, low income people may not capable of spending required money for achieving technology-assisted
(Wilson, Ritzhaupt, & Cheng, 2020) HE as they need to maintain some other basic needs too. Although many people have a
positive mentality to spend more money but they are not capable due to the lack of financial support. According to World Bank
(2016), the per capita income of Bangladesh, a developing country in south Asia in 2016 is 1211.7 USD whereas the per capita
income of Denmark is 52002.2 USD. Family support is another issue which is important for any student to achieve higher
education. Gender issue for higher education in various higher educational establishments attracted researchers in recent
decades for innumerable issues like gender equality and so on (Cama et al., 2016). Many parents do not want to spend more
money on girls as they think that it's better to spend the money for the boys who will take care for the parents in future. But it is
positive that the scenario is changing day by day and the rate of success for the girls is very competitive now a day. According
to UNICEF official website (2016), the female adult literacy rate as a percentage of male is 86.2% during 2008-2012. At this
stage, we hypothesize that:
H1. There is a positive relationship between personal factors and financial factor
B. Political Factors and financial crisis during outbreak
In most of the developing countries the political stability and strength is not very satisfactory. Many countries are still trying to
fulfill their primary needs like food, shelter and safety for their citizen. In this circumstance, financial assistance in educational
sector could be a threat for many developing countries. According to Chen et al (2006), comparatively developing countries
have diminutive record of democracy and also less apparent government policy and regulation. It's noticeable that the fund for
education is inadequate especially for higher education in developing countries. Also, population size and growth rate could be
a key variable for the Government to plan, act and implement the budget of education (Thomas and Homer, 2016). According to
a data investigation based on Ministry of Finance, Government of developing nations, stipend for primary and secondary school
has been observed but no stipend for higher education is observed (Unicef, 2016). It's a matter of great regret that the
Government of Bangladesh imposed 7.5% value added tax on private higher education tuition fees in 2015 which was not
successful due to protest activities by private university students and other social media (University World News 2007-2014).
The education authority was under innumerable questions about adopting tax on higher education because, in 2009, a total
number of 51 private universities provided higher education to above 200,000 students. This figure is around 55% of total
university students in Bangladesh at that time (The Daily Star, 2016). According to a World Bank report (2016), the
Government of many developing countries was doing well between 1990 and 2007. For example, in South Asia the primary
education completion rate rose to 81% from 62%. Within just a time period of 17 years the rate increased by 19% which is
simply amazing. However, the Government of developing countries may have done excellent work for developing the primary
education system with lot of benefits and facilities offered. But the higher education development is still under attempt by most
of the developing counties especially on private sector.
The figure below represents the scenario of government expenditure on education in different countries in the world. The least
percentage of GDP has been spent by China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which are 1.9, 2.1 and 2 respectively.
Table 1: Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP)
Country 1999 2011
Afghanistan 4.1 n/a
Australia n/a 5.1
Albania 3.4 n/a
Austria 6.1 5.6
Bangladesh 2.1 n/a
Belgium n/a 6.4
Bolivia 5.7 6.9
Brazil 3.8 5.7
Canada 5.6 5.3
China 1.9 n/a
Colombia 4.4 4.5
Cuba 6.8 n/a
Cyprus 4.8 6.6
Finland 5.9 6.5
Germany n/a 4.8
India 4.3 3.7
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 436Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
Ireland 4.1 5.9
Italy 4.5 4.1
Malaysia 5.7 5.9
Norway 7 6.5
Sri Lanka n/a 2
Sweden 6.9 6.5
UK 4.3 5.8
USA 4.8 5.2
Source: World Bank Group, 2016
At this stage, we hypothesize that,
H2. There is a positive relationship between political factors and financial factor
C. The effect of economic factors on education financing
One of the major economic factors is lack of education financing by various financial institutions due to trust (Park, 2020) in
developing countries. For example, education loan is offered by various financial institution but the terms and conditions of
receiving the loan cannot be fulfilled by a student or parents due to their weak financial strength or poor credit record. In
developing countries, the majority loans are disbursed as a secured loan but education finance is needed for poor students who
don't have the ability to spend more but have intelligence to pursue higher education. Commercial Banks are more interested
now a day on business finance or SME finance. They are also offering weeding loan, travel loan, Car loan, Carnival loan,
Hospitalization loan etc. (Prime Bank, 2016) but education loan seems not very popular in developing countries due to the gap
of trust or ability between the loan receiver and the provider. According to Daffodil International University website (2015), a
list of 30 non-banking financial institutions has observed in developing nations but none of them is specifically or non-
specifically recognized as an education financing institution. At this stage we hypothesize that:
H3. There is a positive relationship between economic factors and financial factor
D. Social factors associated with HE financing
In developing country society is a complex factor and challenge (Wanzenböck & Frenken, 2020) for HE. Many families are
observed as a big family consists of more than one child. As a result, it's a big issue for the family to finance equally on all
children. Also, there are many broken family where financing is a big issue for higher education. On the other hand, personal
risk factors are associated; for example: a student can misuse the money taken from family for higher education. Sometimes the
parents are not educated enough to look after these issues and they need to depend on their children which they sometimes
consider as a risk factor. Recently some University students are seen to involve with terrorism activities which made the parents
worried (BDnews24.com, 2016). At this stage we hypothesize that:
H4. There is a positive relationship between Social factors and financial factor
E. Security measures to handle for HE financing
Lack of trust is highly observed in developing countries due to financial difficulties so that the financial institutions try to take
strong safety measure for any financial issues regarding HE (Huang, Li, Liao, & Hu, 2018). For this reason, secured financing is
a comparatively easier method to get financial assistance. However, it is rather complicated that the people, who are capable of
ensuring secured finance, may don't need financial assistance and vice versa. In addition, the credit rating system has just in the
beginning stage in many developing countries. Credit rating is not still available for every account holder in the bank or any
other financial institution. At this stage we hypothesize that:
H5: There is a positive relationship between Security factors and financial factor
F. Psychological Factors associated with financing
Return on HE investment and social bias (Heitor, Horta, & Leocádio, 2016) are a crucial issue for many parents in developing
countries. Some parents believe that rather than spending money for education they may invest the money for business or share
market. Many parents have the mentality in developing countries that higher education will bring more money to the family.
Sometimes, lack of liquid money is a significant factor for higher education financing. As a result, parents or guardians
sometimes force students to pursue education at low category institutions. Another psychological factor to discuss here is
limited part time job opportunity for students in developing countries. Dennis et al (2016) noted that satisfaction, trust and
commitment have a very momentous effect on brand in higher education but due to the financial constraints above it's a big
challenge for the students of developing countries to pursue higher education in the right place. At this stage we hypothesize
that:
H6. There is a positive relationship between psychological factors and financial factor
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 437Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Contextual setting
The respondents are selected from the higher educational institutions in developing countries for a few number of reasons. First,
the theme of the research includes university students and the impact of COVID-19. Second, the university students are adult
and their response may increase the generalizability of the research. Finally, based on the cotemporary scenario of the students,
we selected them as the context of this study.
Data collection procedure
The approach taken within this article is inductive and it formulates a theory following the collection of information about the
higher education in developing countries. The inductive approach is more suitable to this research because it allows a more
flexible structure. Due to the speculative nature of this article, secondary research methodologies are emphasized which
increases reliability along with primary data collection. A total number of 400 students from Bangladesh and China including
male and female students were interviewed from 10 different private and public universities regarding the financial issues of
higher education using five point Likert scale method. Respondents were asked whether financial issue regarding higher
education is a major concern or not under various dimensions.
4. FINDINGS &ANALYSIS
User Acceptance Questionnaire for Financial Difficulty Analysis
A total number of six constructs employed by (Shroff, Deneen, & Ng, 2011) which are the focus of the questionnaire used for
this research. The questionnaire showed in Table 2 includes 18 items that may be divided into six categories: three factors on
political factors (POF), three factors on personal factors (PEF), three factors on economic factors (ECOF), three items on social
factors (SOF), three items on security factors (SEF), three items on psychological factors (PSYF) based on the dependent
variable which also consists of two dimensions. The items are on financial difficulty factors (FINF). Students' responses are
collected on a 5-point "Likert" scale method where (1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree).
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 438Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
Table 2
Questionnaire for Financial difficulty analysis
Code Item
POF1 Educational funding is inadequate in my country
POF2 Educational budget is not distributed properly
POF3 Political unrest affects our higher education
PEF1 We have low average income
PEF2 Our family support is not satisfactory
PEF3 Gender issue effect on pursuing higher education
ECOF1 Education financing is not sufficient for us
ECOF2 Commercial banks are not convenient enough to finance us
ECOF3 Other financial institutions are not interested enough on education sector
SOF1 Family issue is crucial for us
SOF2 There are personal risk factors regarding educational financing
SOF3 Social welfare is not sufficient enough for higher education
SOF1 Family issue is crucial for us
SOF2 There are personal risk factors regarding educational financing
SOF3 Social welfare is not sufficient enough for higher education
SEF1 It's difficult to trust people regarding financial issue
SEF2 Secured financial process is not convenient for us
SEF3 Credit rating system is not still available for mass people
PSYF1 There is shortage of liquid money
PSYF2 Some parents have negative mentality on higher education
FINF1 Financial issue is the most important issue for our higher education
FINF2 Our society is highly affected by financial difficulties
FINF3 Financial difficulties should be reduced for achieving higher education
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 439Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
Demographics Total number
Gender of the Male 236
students Female 164
Age (Male 18-22 202
student) 23-27 34
Age ( Female 18-22
student) 140
23-27 24
Student type Regular (Full Time) 376
Irregular (Part
Time) 24
Employment Employed 24
status of the Unemployed
students 376
Parents' Service 130
Occupation Business 154
Unemployed 20
Retired 96
Parents’ income 3000-4000 USD 224
after Tax (per 4000-5000 USD 106
year)
5000-6000 USD 44
6000+ USD 18
Not Sure/not
answered 8
Table 3: Breakdown of the demographic status
The questionnaire was collected from the students in the class as per prior permission by the university authority. Although the
medium of instruction of the institution is strictly followed by English, for the clarity and authenticity of the research, the
writers decided to translate the questionnaire in the respondents' local language so that they could come up with crystal clear
output. Altogether 400 samples were used for correlation and regression analysis to estimate respondents' views about higher
education financing problems.
250
200
150
100
50
0 Male
Male Female
Figure 3: Average money spent by students in one semester (4 months). The local currency has been converted into USD by
X.E. Currency converter (2015)
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B. User acceptance results of financial difficulties
Table 4 describes the reliability result for the scales of respondents' questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha result for each dimension of
the questionnaire was calculated to examine the strength of reliability. The reliability values ranges from 0.70 to 0.78. The
reliability results of all the dimensions were above 0.70 which indicates a valid measurement of the response.
Reliability Analysis
S.NO Variable Item Alpha
1 Political 3 .75
2 Personal 3 .72
3 Economic 3 .74
4 Social 3 .73
5 Security 3 .78
6 Psychological 2 .70
7 Financial 3 .76
Table 4: Reliability statistics for the questionnaire scales
With an attempt to measure strategic flexibility, the authors referred to Sanchez (1995) and framed it with 3 items for each of
the independent variables excluding one exception, which is the psychological factor. According to Marcus and Fremeth's
(2009) the authors used these items for further operation.
Table 5: Factor Loading analysis
S.NO Variable Factor
loading
Political Factors (cr= 0.8074) (AVE=0.5829)
Problem of Inadequate fund .741
Problem of distribution .780
Effect of Political unrest .769
Personal Factors (cr=0.7871 ) (AVE=0.5521)
Outcome of Low average income .736
Importance of Family support .744
Significance of Gender issue .749
Economic Factors (cr=0.8074 ) (AVE=0.5829)
Problem of education financing .672
Lack of interest by commercial banks .503
Lack of interest by other financial institutions .817
Social Factors (cr=0.7091) (AVE=0.4574)
Impact of family issue .741
Impact of personal risk factor .780
Lack of social welfare .769
Security Factors (cr=0.7746 ) (AVE=0.5355)
Lack of trust .795
Lack of secured financing .743
Absence of credit rating .650
Psychological Factors (cr=0.8091 ) (AVE=0.5859)
Mentality for spending on higher education .730
Shortage of liquid money .790
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Table 6: Correlation analysis
Table 5 above represents the C.R. (Composite Reliability) and AVE (Average Variance Extracted) of the six variables used in
this study where the values represents ideal and acceptable score according to statistical experts (McCoach, 2002) including the
factor loading score of every single items used in this study. Table 6 below is the representation of correlation analysis.
Table 6 above represents the correlation analysis of this study. The result indicates that the results are highly correlated among
all the variables used in this study.
variable
Mean S.D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1.Financial(DV) 4.807 .394 1
2. Political 4.588 .401 .32** 0.58
**
3. Personal 4.510 .399 .30 .47** 0.55
4. Economic 4.445 .371 .29** .48** .39** 0.58
5. Social 4.545 .362 .15** .46** .51** .35** 0.45
** ** ** **
6. Security 4.569 .382 .24 .45 .53 .40 .47** 0.53
7.psychological 4.510 .418 .35** .61** .50** .44** .49** .46** 0.58
Variable Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Model 6
Beta Beta Beta Beta Beta Beta
Personal Factors .30***
Political Factors .315***
Social Factors .164**
Security Factors .254***
Psychological Factors .338*** .
314***
Economic Factors
Observations 400 400 400 400 400 400
R Square .09 .103 .023 .061 .129 .087
Adjusted R Square 0.092 .101 .020 .058 .127 .085
F value 41.456*** 45.640*** 9.292** 25.687*** 58.833*** 37.995***
Table 7: Regression analysis
According to the regression analysis described in Table 7, it is clearly observed that the independent variables in this study are
correlated and significantly affect the dependent variable of the study. All six hypotheses in this study are supported, which
indicates that the financial issue is a major concern due to COVID-19 in HE development in developing countries.
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 442Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
Hypotheses design Status
H1. There is a positive relationship between personal factors and financial factor Supported
H2. There is a positive relationship between political factors and financial factor Supported
H3. There is a positive relationship between economic factors and financial factor Supported
H4. There is a positive relationship between Social factors and financial factor Supported
H5. There is a positive relationship between Security factors and financial factor Supported
H6. There is a positive relationship between psychological factors and financial factor Supported
Table 8: Hypothesis testing result
Financial
Assurance
10
Satisfactio Understan
8
n ding
6
4
Importanc 2 Communic
e ation
0
Perceptio
Expertise
n
Radar Chart for pursuing
Self- higher education criteria
Expectatio
Developm
n
ent
Figure 4: Radar chart for pursuing higher education criteria
As presented in figure 4 above, the radar chart represents the most crucial issue of HE during COVID-19 which is nothing but
financial assurance. This criterion is treated as the most important issue due to COVID-19 effects, for achieving quality higher
education in developing countries.
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School closure - COVID-19
140 133
120
100
80 68.21
60 50
40 25.64
20 4 7 3.59
2.05 1 0.51
0
Closed Closed in Seasonal Open with Open
selected area Closures limitations
No of countries Percentage
Figure 5: School closure status in the world. Source: The World Bank, 2020
Consistent with our research findings, most of the countries in the world closed educational institutions to ensure the safety
measures of the students (The World Bank, 2020). To continue smart learning or e-learning, technological support, device
management, Apps purchase, Wi-Fi facilities, and so on are major issues in many developing countries in the world. Apart from
that, COVID-19 reduced the income level of parents and guardians of the students. As a result, universities should receive the
subsidy and sufficient funding to ensure sustainable HE development.
Figure 6: Scatterplot Matrix
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Figure 6 above is the representation of Social, Psychological, Economic, Personal, Political and Security factors in scatterplot
matrix. The graph clearly indicates that economic and social factors are most significant factors in this case and the same
representation is observed below in Figure 7 with GGraph analysis.
Figure 7: GGraph - Parallel: Social-Psychological-Economic-Personal-Political-Security
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 445Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
5. IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Theoretical implications
This study shows a few important theoretical contributions. First, this study utilizes TAM (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012)
theory in terms of technology acceptance-based of affordability where TAM is extended in terms of financial capability of the
students in developing countries. Second, this study provides insights into the financial assurance in HE sector to ensure
sustainable educational development based on smart education and e-learning opportunity due to COVID-19 pandemic. Finally,
through the inclusion of the financial assistance is complicated and uncertain, the study added a significant contribution to the
current literature to know the fact and plan accordingly.
Managerial Implications
Due to COVID-19, the HE sector in developing countries is under threat due to technological unavailability and affordability
issues. It is very crucial to support the higher education sector with the necessary financing as soon as possible. Some reputed
Private Universities in different developing countries are playing a significant role in this phenomenon. The financial crisis
should be handled properly otherwise it would be just a dream for many talented students to achieve a higher degree. The
Government should take necessary measures to encourage the private sector to play an optimistic role in the enlargement and
diversification of quality higher education to uphold quality higher education in the country.
Limitations and future research
The study covered a very limited number of students in respect of its real scope around a few developing countries. Sometimes
respondents may not involve in expressing their truthful opinion due to COVID-19 pandemic and psychological disorder due to
an uncertain future. To overcome these limitations, an intensive study of existing literature in this field with a mixed
methodology approach may discover the phenomenon better. Data obtained from a few regions may affect the generalizability
of the research. Opportunities for potential research have emerged as a result of this research. The study primarily focused on a
limited number of university students in few developing nations only. Future research should comprise more universities along
with the responses from students, academic staff, administrative staff, and employers. This may provide a better-off data for
investigation. Data taken from numerous sources are improved than data taken from a single source (Summers, 2001).
Financing for HE for technology-enhanced learning (Webster, 2020) will ensure sustainable academic development in
developing nations.
Funding: There is no funding received for this research.
Conflict of interest: There is no conflict of interest in this study
Acknowledgment: The authors sincerely thank Professor Selina Nargis, IUBAT—International University of Business
Agriculture and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh, for her encouragement and motivation towards scientific research and
publication. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their invaluable feedback and comments.
Volume XII, Issue VIII, 2020 Page No: 446Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
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