The future of a generation of girls is at risk

By Aroma Dutta MP, the first woman from civil society to serve in Bangladesh’s parliament in the country’s history.

Aroma Dutta MP speaking at a Centre for Policy Dialogue event on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in September 2019 © Centre for Policy Dialogue

The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for the education of children all over the world. It has disrupted the education of over 90% of the world’s students and placed the future of an entire generation at risk, and in uncertainty.

At the height of the pandemic, 194 countries instituted countrywide school closures, affecting nearly 1.6 billion children and youth worldwide. Six months on and the latest figures from UNESCO show that more than half a billion of the world’s students remain affected by school closures.

Whilst nearly all students have been affected, the impact of the pandemic on learning has not been equal. The pandemic has exacerbated existing education disparities, adding new barriers for many of the most vulnerable children and youth – including those living in poor or rural areas, girls, persons with disabilities, refugees and internally displaced persons – in accessing quality learning.

Parliamentarians in partnership to build back equal from COVID-19

I recently attended the founding meeting of the International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd). The meeting brought together parliamentarians to discuss the global education emergency and agree on how we can work together to get children’s learning back on track.

The Network’s membership encompasses more than 130 parliamentarians, from over 30 countries, ranging from Japan where schools began reopening in early April in time for the new school year to Mali and Mexico where schools remain shut country-wide.

Despite the different stages that countries are at in their reopening of schools, I was struck by the universal concern from my fellow parliamentarians that it is has been the most marginalised and vulnerable children who have been disproportionately impacted by school closures wherever they have occurred.

Aroma Dutta MP attended IPNEd’s founding meeting on Monday 14th September 2020.

Schools remain completely closed in 35 countries

In my Country, Bangladesh, where I sit in the National Parliament, we are one of 35 countries where schools remain closed country-wide. Schools and universities have moved to digital learning, but poor access to affordable and reliable technology has resulted in many students missing out on learning and in a process, a generation will remain uneducated, which will create an overall socio, economic and political negative impact on the Nation.

To take one example, in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp – the world’s largest refugee settlement - in south-eastern Bangladesh, more than 300,000 Rohingya refugee children are missing out on an education due to the closure of the camp’s 6,000 learning institutions and restrictions on Internet access. More unrest is expected. These groups of Rohingya refugee children will be subjects of vulnerability and will be exposed to violence and will be inducted in anti-social activities. 

Rohingya learners in a classroom in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp. © Children on the Edge

Keeping children learning is vital to prevent dropouts

The temporary impact of school closures risks having a lifelong effect on the life chances of an entire generation. This is most acute for the millions of children who already lagging behind their peers, have now experienced the greatest barriers in accessing remote learning and are most at risk of never returning to school. Automatically, as a consequence, a rising number of school drop-outs will be pushed to urban sectors in search of livelihood in the informal sector, who will be regular subjects of exploitation in all aspects.   

The resources required for digital learning, like computers, smart phones and Internet access, are not widely accessible in most households in Bangladesh. As school closures become more protracted in many parts of the world, it is vital that gaps in distance learning are identified and addressed so that all children keep learning.

In reality, access to Education Digitalization in schools is also limited. Equipment required for distance learning is expensive and not easily affordable for all categories of schools and children, which is only limited to some urban schools, except the big cities.  In a process, a discriminatory education system and educated groups will emerge by promoting exclusion and disregarding inclusive education.  

Girls will bear the brunt of school dropouts

Girls are particularly vulnerable to taking on an increase in domestic and caring responsibilities as well as an entering the labour force whilst schools are closed. The closure of schools also increases the risk to girls of sexual exploitation and violence, early pregnancy and forced marriage.

The Malala Fund estimate that 20 million secondary school age girls may now never return to the classroom, in addition to the 130 million girls who are already out of school.

Two Rohingya girls head to class at the Kutupalong refugee centre in Bangladesh.

© UNHCR/Shafiul Mostafa

 Learning from previous crises

Whilst the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented, we’ve seen before the impact that health crises have on girls’ education.  The 2014 Ebola outbreak impacted the learning of almost five million schoolchildren across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as schools shut for over half year.

In Liberia the number of girls of primary school age who were out of school tripled from 7% before the outbreak to 21% in 2017. Similarly, in Guinea, by 2018, girls were 25% less likely than boys to enrol in secondary school.

During the Ebola outbreak, many girls became the sole breadwinners for their families, and we now risk seeing that replicated on a global scale as more families are pushed into poverty. The International Labour Organisation and UNICEF have warned that COVID-19 may push millions more children into child labour, leading to the first rise in child labour since 2000.

Teenage pregnancy and early and forced marriage also risk resulting in girls not returning to the classroom. Data from Uganda, in line with emerging evidence from other countries around the world, has shown that COVID-19 has resulted in an increased rate of teenage pregnancy, leaving girls in their early teenage years out of school and afraid for their future.

20 years of gains for girls’ education are at risk

Last month marked five years since world leaders signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals. 20 years of gains for girls’ education are now at risk. This jeopardises progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the Global Goals as a whole, as we know education is a catalyst for the achievement of other SDGs. 

The establishment of the International Parliamentary Network for Education comes at a crucial time, with the future of the most marginalised children and youth at stake.

In the face of the additional obstacles of the pandemic, parliamentarians must work to pressure our governments and the international community to implement policies that ensure no child and crucially no girl is left behind.

We must press our governments to ensure that COVID-19 education responses prioritise the needs of all girls’. Whilst schools are closed, we must make sure girls can keep learning, tackling the gendered barriers they face in accessing learning when out of the classroom. This includes addressing the gender digital divide, recognising that in the poorest countries, women are 33% less likely to use the internet than men.

I also recommend, to have easy access to Internet connection in all schools of villages in particular for Digitalized Education Systems. 

While many girls will continue with their education once the school gates reopen, without urgent action millions will never return to school. Parliamentarians have the responsibility and opportunity to advocate for and hold governments accountable for the implementation of national education response and recovery plans that ensure the safe return of all girls to school.

Students studying in South Lebanon. © Adeline Guerra, NNRC

Investing in a girl’s education achieves a better life for her

Education is a lifeline for girls all over the world. It provides the knowledge and skills for a brighter and more equal future, and can offer protection from violence and exploitation. 

We know that if every girl worldwide received 12 years of quality education, child marriage could be eliminated. Girls could also double their expected earnings in adulthood, and improve living standards, for themselves and their families.

The establishment of IPNEd provides an opportunity to ensure education responses to COVID-19 prioritise the needs of girls, and indeed all marginalised groups. By reaching across political and geographical divides, IPNEd can build the political will to tackle the multi-dimensional barriers that continue to hold back access to education for girls, such as bans on allowing pregnant girls to enrol.

I am proud to be a founding member of the first parliamentary network dedicated to education. I left IPNEd’s founding meeting assured that my fellow parliamentarians recognise the threat facing the future of an entire generation. It is incumbent on us all now to act, country wide at the grass-roots from the lowest tier of administration to the highest  in collaboration with Civil Society Organizations, Students from Schools, Colleges and Universities, including Elected Members of Union Parishad to the Members of National Parliament .

© Parliament of Bangladesh

Aroma Dutta is a Parliamentarian by profession. An Activist, notable for her contribution towards upliftment in the lives of Women, in Rural Bangladesh and Empowerment of Women, particularly, promoting in the decision making process for a Gender- Balanced Society . She has long experiences as a  Human Rights Defender and a Women Rights Activist and as a Development Practitioner, with a dynamic professional career of 40 years. She worked intensively with NGOs , Civil Society, Donors, Government, National and International Forums and Networks for Capacity Building, Institutional Development and Policy Advocacy .

She has represented Bangladesh in several National and International Forums and Networks, particularly with UN Agencies, UNESCO, including UN High Commission for Human Rights, Common Wealth Foundation throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia.   She has received the highest National Award, ‘ROKEYA PADAK’, from the Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh,  for her solid contribution in the sector of, Women Empowerment.