Covid-19 disrupts female education

According to a policy brief issued by the Right to Education Forum in January 2021, 10 million girls in India could drop out of secondary school due to Covid-19. The sudden shift from classroom learning to virtual learning was like a lock for students from marginalized communities due to the existing digital divide among students.

However, some recent studies show that there existed a ‘gender-based digital divide’ in education that made the situation worse for female students, according to India Today.

Many of the girls who were studying before the Covid-19 pandemic didn’t return to classes again as their families didn’t want to invest their savings in their education.

Girls who are facing this situation

An 18-year-old Nisha was giving her Class 12 board exams in Delhi’s Shahdara when the nationwide lockdown was announced to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in India in March 2020.

Just like all other activities, exams were also stopped, first postponed and later canceled.

After that, she felt that the pandemic would put a hold on her dream to study further as her father lost his job.