They Learn from Home: The Effectiveness of Deschooled Learning on Mental Health and Behavior of Students during COVID-19 in Bangladesh

Abstract Background: In the age of extreme importance of schooling education, deschooled learning has received less importance. The purpose of this study is to explore deschooled learning and its effectiveness on preventive behaviors and mental health conditions of students in Bangladesh.Methods: This study was designed following the quantitative method, and 1,085 responses were collected from social media platforms, using the snowball sampling technique. Binary logistic regression was used to measure and infer the proposed association.Results: As per fully-adjusted regression models, the individuals who had more deschooled learning were 1.667 times (95% CI= 1.191, 2.332; P= 0.01) and 1.426 times (95% CI= 1.038, 1.958; P= 0.05) more likely to prevent contact from symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers, respectively. Moreover, the persons with higher deschooled learning were more likely to have better mental health conditions including less fear (B= -0.462; 95% CI= -0.955, 0.030; P= 0.1), lower anxiety (B= -0.482; 95% CI= -0.844, -0.119; P= 0.01), and more perceived vulnerability (B= 1.292; 95% CI= 0.497, 2.087; P= 0.01). Conclusion: This study adds that policymakers may formulate health plans and policies for initiating informal health literacy (IHL) that may help increase deschooled learning and informal knowledge among individuals especially during a pandemic situation (like COVID-19) and help them to be safe by adopting preventive behaviors and maintaining better mental health conditions in low-income settings like Bangladesh.