UPSC Articles
“When schools shut: Gendered impacts of COVID-19 school closures” – A Global study by UNESCO
Part of: Prelims and GS-II – Education
Context A new study by UNESCO, titled “When schools shut: Gendered impacts of COVID-19 school closures” was recently released.
Key findings of the report
- Threat to gender equality: Educational disruption due to prolonged closure of schools across the globe will have alarming effects on learning loss and also poses threat to gender equality.
- Different impact: Girls and boys, young women and men were affected differently by school closures, depending on the context.
- At the peak of the pandemic, 1.6 billion students in 190 countries were affected by school closures.
- They lost access to education, but also to the myriad benefits of attending school, at an unparalleled scale.
- Gender norms and expectations can affect the ability to participate in and benefit from remote learning.
- In poorer contexts, girls’ time to learn was constrained by increased household chores.
- Boys’ participation in learning was limited by income-generating activities.
- Girls faced difficulties in engaging in digital remote learning modalities due to limited access to Internet-enabled devices, a lack of digital skills and cultural norms restricting their use of technological devices.
