Addressing the gender dimensions of COVID-related school closures

Experience tells us that public health outbreaks have distinct gendered impacts, and that preparedness and response efforts must understand the gendered dimensions of the crises to avert widening inequalities and seize opportunities to advance gender equality. The COVID-19 pandemic is no different. Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in recent months in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19. In April 2020, schooling was disrupted for 1.3 billion students from pre-primary through secondary in over 190 countries. Now, in 46 countries, 735 million students, including 356 million girls, are uncertain when they will sit in a classroom again. This includes those who have been involved in distance learning for the past 6-9 months during the COVID pandemic, as well as newly enrolled students. Some 23.8 million children and youth (from pre-primary to tertiary), including over 11 million girls, may dropout due to the pandemic’s economic impact. As governments consider whether to continue distance learning, or reopen schools, they must consider the risks of exacerbating disparities, and how to address the potential for disengagement and dropout among both boys and girls when schools reopen. While this is a crisis situation, it can also be seen as a window of opportunity to ‘build back equal’ through gender-responsive measures that transform education systems, prioritize resilience, and address the key bottlenecks and barriers to girls’ education.