Key Findings on the Impact of COVID-19 on Girls’ Education in the Indo-Pacific

Over the course of the past 16 months, Kore Global - commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs of Australia (DFAT) - has been researching the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on girls’ education and wellbeing across the Indo-Pacific. What started out as two regional rapid evidence reviews - one for South and Southeast Asia (SSEA) and the other for Pacific Island Countries (PICs) - soon expanded to include a series of case studies looking at emerging trends, as well as two country deep dives.  

We’re very excited to begin launching these products today, alongside our partners at DFAT. Over the course of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, we’ll be sharing links to each product here. 

To give you a taste of what’s to come, here are 5 key findings:

1. Similar trends relating to girls' wellbeing emerged across both SSEA and PICs.

While the various dimensions of girls' wellbeing could be seen to be important outcomes in their own right, for the purpose of this research, wellbeing factors are considered to be the key enablers and constraints which contribute to girls’ educational outcomes. The key issues we explored include gender-based violence, sexual reproductive heath and rights, livelihoods, mental health and child marriage - all of which were exacerbated during the pandemic.  

Increased GBV: GBV at the household and community level generally increased during the pandemic - including cyber violence and harassment against girls and young women, domestic violence, and intimate partner violence - although accurate data is hindered by underreporting.

SRHR: SRHR services have been curtailed due to school and health centre closures, restricting access for girls, and disproportionately affecting remote and rural communities, displaced populations, girls with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQI+ communities.

Livelihoods: Economic shocks caused by COVID-19 appear to threaten girls’ education directly and indirectly, including through an increase in child marriage or paid/unpaid labour, or simply because families prioritise investments in their sons’ education.

Mental health: Several cross-country studies highlight mental health challenges for children and youth during the pandemic. Very few studies analyzed pre/post COVID-19 data and there was very little intersectional gender analysis.  However, the longer schools stayed shut, the more likely it was that students would face challenges to their mental health. 

Child marriage: According to the UNFPA, an additional 13 million child marriages could take place between 2020 and 2030 as a result of the pandemic.  Several studies across the Indo-Pacific region have found anecdotal evidence of increases in child marriage. However the data that is available is likely to underestimate the increase in prevalence. 

2. The evidence on learning loss is still largely based on predictions.

At the time of our research, most countries were not fully back to school and those that were had not yet resumed standardized testing; there was, therefore, limited official sex-disaggregated data on attainment to compare to pre-pandemic levels. However, that which does exist points to cross-country variations, with pre-pandemic gender disparities worsening in each respective country. As mentioned above, a number of studies have explored how existing gendered barriers to education have been exacerbated by the pandemic, including increases in levels of poverty, paid and unpaid labour, child marriage and early pregnancy, and violence in the home and community. Further studies have explored how the COVID-19 pandemic has created new gendered barriers to education, such as the gender digital divide, new forms of cyber violence, and increased mental health challenges. The impact of these exacerbated and new barriers to girls' education is not yet fully known.

3. Nearly half of the primary sources collected did not include any comparative sex-disaggregated data. 

Overall, disaggregated data is limited across COVID-19 education-related research, whether by sex, age or school stage, and there is a distinct lack of evidence on disability, ethnicity and remoteness. Evidence is essential to understand the impact that the pandemic has had – and continues to have – on young people in the region. A robust evidence base is also needed for governments to design COVID-19 response plans that effectively mitigate and address existing risks, and equip communities, schools, and families to support young people to continue learning. Within this evidence base, disaggregated data is critical to understanding the magnitude of the pandemic’s impact on different groups of young people. By collecting and analyzing disaggregated data, stakeholders can better tailor policy and programming responses, and monitor progress towards national and global commitments, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

4. Very little is known about the effectiveness of development partners' responses to the COVID pandemic.

There is little evidence on the effectiveness of responses in relation to girls' learning and wellbeing outcomes. A number of studies have explored students’, parents’, and teachers’ perceptions of remote teaching and learning and the challenges related to attendance and participation, including issues around managing time; timing of lessons; access to ICT, TV, radio and teaching materials; quality of teaching materials; and the support given to students and parents. From a policy perspective, there is also little evidence of the effectiveness of education policy responses (e.g. adjusting exams, student promotion). In terms of social protection policies several studies have sought to examine the effectiveness of COVID-19 social safety nets. The evidence to date suggests that these are not always reaching the most marginalized, particularly girls with disabilities.

5. Solutions need to be contextually grounded. But across the regions, a focus is needed on promoting the safeguarding and protection of children, and generating and utilizing more disaggregated data and evidence in education policy and programming.

Each of our research products are accompanied by contextually-grounded policy recommendations targeted to key stakeholders including government, school leaders, NGO/CSOs, donors, and the private sector. At a very high level, this research has demonstrated the need for the sector to focus its attention on two key areas: 

• Promoting the safeguarding and protection of children and youth, especially vulnerable groups including married or pregnant girls and young women, LGBTQI+ communities, learners with disabilities, and children of female-headed households, who may be more prone to child labour or domestic work.

• Commissioning, supporting, and/or advocating for more evidence that examines learning loss and the broader impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on girls’ education and wellbeing, ensuring that data is disaggregated by both sex and other variables of marginalisation, including age, location, displacement and disability, to highlight intersecting vulnerabilities.

By shedding light on the evidence base and evidence gaps, we hope this research is a useful resource to support education sector stakeholders to rethink and redesign education policy and programmes at this critical post-pandemic moment. The scale of the transformation needed requires collaboration and co-responsibility between governments, donors, education leaders, NGOs and the private sector.

Written by Emily Boost, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Kore Global