The Impacts of School Closures on Girl Child Education: Issues and Recommendations
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education globally has been a great concern for educational policy and developmental experts. According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, 191 Countries have closed schools, 220 million post-secondary students have had their studies ended or significantly disrupted according to the World Bank, and almost 1.6 billion children and youth are out-of-school due to total or partial closures of schools according to UNHCR Education. Although the impact is widespread, COVID-19 will likely affect the education outcomes of girls and boys disproportionately.
Over the years, research has continually shown that girls already suffer a host of barriers to education that result in substantial gender disparities between their male counterparts. According to UNESCO’s Girls’ education — the facts, almost a quarter of young women aged 15–24 today (116 million) in developing countries have never completed primary school and so lack skills for work, and there are still 31 million girls of primary school age out of school. Of these, 17 million are expected never to enter school. Three countries have over a million girls not in school: In Nigeria there are almost five and a half million, Pakistan, over three million, and in Ethiopia, over one million girls out of school (UNESCO’s Girls’ education). Isn’t that worrisome?
Around the world, particularly in Africa and Asia, the girl child is being exposed to many forms of abuse, including sexual abuse, child marriage and female genital mutilation, which end their education unexpectedly. Schools closure as measure to contain the spread of COVID-19, is likely to put the girl child at a higher risk of sexual violence and exploitation, forced labour, trafficking, child marriage, and social exclusion among others, considering that schools typically provides a safe place for these girls who are mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds. Even when school reopens, continuity of the girl child education is not secured as seen in the case of Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis.
What are the impacts of school closures on girl child education?
Learning impacts: Except for cases in developed countries where there is access to digital learning platforms, learning for the majority of girls in low- and middle-income countries might come to a halt. Moreover, the time out of school can actually lead to learning losses that continue to accumulate after schools reopen, knowing that two-thirds of the 774 million illiterate people in the world are female (UNESCO). Also, drawing on data from the Ebola outbreak where policy decisions made it harder for girls to re enroll in school after the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, there might be an increased dropout rate among girls when school reopens post-COVID-19.
Health and Safety impacts: According to a report from the Centre for Global Development (CGD), approximately 13 million adolescent girls in low and middle-income countries become pregnant before the age of 20 and face additional health risks: higher rates of eclampsia, puerperal endometritis, and systemic infections. Typically, schools serve as a safe environment for the girl child, shielding her from abuse and molestation. When they are in school, they are less likely to be forced into early marriage. During this pandemic, however, schools are not there to protect girls, for girls living in poor and disadvantaged communities, the consequences of school closure might force them to face sexual violence and exploitation, trafficking, child marriage, or forced labour. Out-of-school girls are also at an increased risk of sexual exploitation — adolescent girls living in poverty encounter pressures to engage in intercourse with sexual partners who can provide financial or in-kind support (CGD).
Economic impacts: In low and middle-income countries where poverty is high, the economic impacts of COVID-19 might have widespread and devastating effects on education for girls. Economic hardships caused by the crisis might have devastating effects as families may have to consider the financial and opportunity costs of educating their daughters, particularly in places where they believe the education of a girl child ends in the kitchen. When school gates reopen, while many girls will continue with their education, others will never return to school.
Recommendations for Government and Stakeholders
Enhance economic support for marginalized girls: Governments, donor agents and aid organizations should consider providing economic support such as fund transfers and food distribution for girls, especially those in the poorest communities. This can go a long way by reducing the economic hardship and threat of maltreatment for the girl child.
Innovatively adapt interventions proven to benefit girls: Humanitarian interventions in times of conflict or crisis are not necessarily the same across regions. This is because every region or country has its own structures and systems. To ensure that the girl child does not suffer great misfortune as a result of school closures, governments and stakeholders must innovatively adopt proven solutions and create learning systems adaptable to the needs of the girl child, promoting inclusion and equity.
Consider policy re-evaluation to help girls return to school: Post- COVID-19, it is imperative that governments and policymakers reevaluate public and educational policies such as reductions in school fees, or waving entrance examinations, to incentivize both girls’ and boys’ when schools reopen.
Conclusion
The COVID19 pandemic has undoubtedly shown the existing inequalities and widened the learning gaps in the global education system across regions, however, effective reforms during this period can be the saving grace to build a more resilient education system globally.
References
- Megan O’Donnell, Maryam Akmal and Susannah Hares 2020 “A New Survey on the Risks of School Closures for Girls” , https://www.cgdev.org/blog/new-survey-risks-school-closures-girls
- Agnes Odhiambo 2020 “How girls’ education and safety will be harmed by the covid response”, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/15/how-girls-education-and-safety-will-be-harmed-covid-response
- Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013 “Girls’ education — the facts”, https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/gem-report/files/girls-factsheet-en.pdf
- UNHCR April 2020 “SUPPORTING CONTINUED ACCESS TO EDUCATION DURING COVID-19”, https://www.unhcr.org/5ea7eb134.pdf
- World Bank Group Education 2020 “The COVID-19 Crisis Response: Supporting tertiary education for continuity, adaptation, and innovation”, http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/621991586463915490/WB-Tertiary-Ed-and-Covid-19-Crisis-for-public-use-April-9.pdf
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