Abstract
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all countries implemented school closures to prevent disease transmission. However, prolonged closures can put children at risk of leaving school permanently, a decision that can reduce their long-term potential and income. This study investigated the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and associated school closures reduced school attendance in Malawi, a low-income African country. We used longitudinal data from a cohort of adolescents interviewed before (2017/18; at age 10–16) and after (2021; at age 13–20) the pandemic school closures. Of those students who had been attending school prior to school closures, we find that 86% returned when schools re-opened. Dropouts were more pronounced among older girls: over 30% of those aged 17–19 did not return to school. This resulted in further lowering the gender parity index to the greater disadvantage of girls. We also found that students already lagging behind in school were more likely to dropout. Thus, our data suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified gender inequalities in schooling, at least partially erasing recent progress towards inclusive education. Urgent investments are needed to find and re-enroll lost students now, and to create more resilient and adaptable educational systems before the next pandemic or other negative shock arrives.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 102645 |
Journal | International Journal of Educational Development |
Volume | 93 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2022 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank the respondents for their time and willingness to share their experiences. We also thank the staff (field supervisors, interviewers, counselors, and many others) at Invest in Knowledge International for their time, effort, and support of this project. In particular, we thank James Mwera and Andrew Zulu for oversight of the extensive data collection. Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers R01HD090988 and R01HD087391 . The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Adolescents
- COVID-19
- Child marriage
- Education
- Pregnancy
- School closures
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article