Since its independence, India has adopted various policy measures to ensure every boy and girl in the country is in school and is learning. More so, with special policy initiatives and campaigns directed towards promoting girl education, the country has seen tremendous progress in the female enrolment rates. The primary-level female gross enrolment ratio (GER) has risen from 61 percent in 1970 to 115 percent in 2015. At the secondary level, female GER has risen from 14 percent in 1970 to 75 percent in 2015. However, the global coronavirus pandemic is set to disrupt the progress made so far in education, disproportionately affecting young and adolescent girls across the country. 


With school closures come burdening household responsibilities…and less learning time

“Didi, what can I do? It is becoming very difficult for me to study at home. My mother is not well, I have to take care of her and my home”. 
Such is the story of millions of young girls whose education has been affected by school closures. The patriarchal mindset is deeply entrenched in the Indian society. According to UNICEF, girls between 5 and 14 years old spend 40 per cent more time on unpaid household chores and collecting water compared to boys their age. Disproportionate burden of domestic work begins early, with girls in the age group of 5-9 years old spending 30 per cent more time on household chores than boys their age. Now, with the schools shut, limited economic opportunities in the market, and stringent physical distancing measures outside, family members are confined at their homes. The increased household duties, owing to its gendered nature, has fallen on girls during Covid-19. Therefore, the time spent by them on learning – as compared to boys - has reduced, affecting their academic performance, and thus exacerbating the case of gender gap in education.


The fear of school drop-outs

According to UNESCO, the countrywide school closure in India has affected 158 million female students enrolled from pre-primary to tertiary levels of education. Drawing on data from Ebola outbreak, Malala Fund projects that close to 20 million secondary-aged school girls will drop out of schools following the current crisis; and many of them can be from India. This statistic is alarming for our country because of the existing gendered difference in the educational attainment – the mean years of schooling for females is 4.7 years as compared to 8.2 years that of males. With the education of girls already lagging behind, poverty - arising from the pandemic - and patriarchal mindsets will force more girls out of school, thereby aggravating gender inequality in education. 

Gender Digital Divide

Even for the remaining 138 million girls who may get the chance to continue with their education post the pandemic, the path to learning during school closures is not easy. According to GSMA Mobile Gender Gap report, women in India are 20 per cent less likely to use mobile internet than men. In India, girls are often excluded from access to technology. Parents do not trust their daughters with technology because they fear negative consequences of the freedom. This case is more visible in rural areas and urban slums. As per a survey in  government schools of Maharashtra, most of the families have one smartphone with internet and, parents would prefer to continue boys’ online education instead of that of girls. 

Covid-19 has caused school closures for an unforeseeable future. The vulnerable and disadvantaged community of children have been hit the hardest. Recognizing the threat this pandemic poses to girls’ education enrolment and attainment rates, government and civil societies must come forward and approach the problem through a gendered lens. If we fail to do so, India may lose out on 15% of its human capital.