COVID-19 in Pakistan: A Phone Survey to Assess Education, Economic, and Health-Related Outcomes
- R Research Project/Report/Study
I Inactive
Key Information
Using a sample of 1,211 households in Pakistan, we examine the effects of COVID-19 on three key domains: education, economic, and health-related. First, during school closures, 66 percent of surveyed households report not using technology for learning at all. Wealth disparities mar access to distance learning, and richer households are 39 percent more likely to use technology for learning compared to the poorest households. This has implications for learning remediation as children head back to school. Second, more than half of the respondents report a reduction in income and one-fifth report being food insecure during the lockdown in the first week of May 2020. Only one-fifth of households reporting a reduction in income and one-fifth of respondents reporting a reduction in the number of meals consumed report being covered by the federal government’s cash transfer program. Third, while a majority of respondents (90 percent) report adopting precautionary measures such as face masks, a vast majority of respondents (78 percent) underestimate the risk of contracting a COVID-19 infection compared to tuberculosis. With schools reopening in a phased manner since mid-September, most respondents (68 percent) believe that school reopenings will further increase the risk of COVID-19 infections.
Lead Implementing Organization(s)
Location(s)
South Asia
Pakistan
Government Affiliation
Non-governmental programYears
2020 - 2020
Partner(s)
Not applicable or unknown
Ministry Affiliation
UnknownFunder(s)
Not applicable or unknown
COVID-19 Response
New for COVID-19Geographic Scope
NationalMeets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES
UnknownAreas of Work Back to Top
Education areas
Attainment
- Primary enrollment
- Secondary completion
Cross-cutting areas
- COVID-19 Response
- Economic/livelihoods (including savings/financial inclusion, etc.)
- Gender equality
Program participants
Other populations reached
Not applicable or unknown
Participants include
Not applicable or unknown
Program Approaches Back to Top
Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization
- School management committees
- Technical assistance/capacity building to civil society organizations or governments
Policy/legal environment
- Developing/promoting new laws/policies
- System-wide review and reform
Social/gender norms change
- Engaging parents/caregivers of students or school-age children/adolescents
Teaching
- Diagnostic feedback
Program Goals Back to Top
Education goals
- Improved academic skills (literacy and numeracy)
- Increased school completion (general)
- Increased school enrolment (general)
Cross-cutting goals
Not applicable or unknown
Additional Information Back to Top
Primary Contact
- Rita Perakis
- Center for Global Development (CGD)
- Assistant Director and Senior Policy Analyst, Global Education
- rperakis@cgdev.org