Stress level of Islamic junior and senior high school students in distance learning during the COVID-19 outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted education, as indicated by the transition from face-to-face to distance learning, which is perceived to influence students’ stress. This study aims to measure the psychological condition of students in Indonesia based on their stress levels. It used a quantitative approach with 1,174 students at Islamic junior and senior high schools in Bali and Nusa Tenggara Timur as respondents. They were selected through a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected through online questionnaires distributed from 9 to 26 November 2021, and two main findings were discovered. First, students’ stress levels were in the ‘moderate’ category, with 13,29% experiencing high-stress levels and 41,82% at moderate levels. Second, students reported physical, emotional, and behavioural difficulties with some stressors such as fatigue, headaches, irritability, anxiety, decreased learning motivation, and concentration. These findings enrich the discourse about distance learning, which previously stressed its negative impact more. The findings recommend that educational institutions provide students with innovative and diverse models of enjoyable distance learning that do not result in psychological problems for them.