“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.
