Wits survey links loadshedding to worse sleep and lower marks
Sleep scientists from the South African Society for Sleep and Health surveyed more than 1,100 University of the Witwatersrand students in 2023. Nearly three in four said loadshedding affected their sleep.
The researchers wrote about their own anonymous online survey in The Conversation. Students with backup power had about 60% lower odds of reporting worse sleep, and solar users fared best. Students who slept worse were more likely to report lower grades and late arrival at class. The data is self-reported from one university, and the authors say it cannot prove that loadshedding caused grades to fall.