The Save, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has produced a detailed report on the status of the impact of Covid-19 on girl-child education globally.
The report, which was published in the journal Lancet last month, paints a gloomy picture: The adverse effects on girls’ education of the prolonged school closure during the pandemic will reverse the gains attained in the past decade.
By the end of last year, the report shows, more than 500, 000 school-going girls were forced into marriage globally.
That was caused by falling family livelihoods occasioned by job losses due to Covid-19 mitigation measures. Poverty and contracting economies pushed families to seek husbands for their young daughters as a way of getting assistance from her husband’s family.
In the period under review, the report says, more than a million teenage pregnancies were recorded. And in the next five years, the impact of Covid-19 on early marriages will account for an additional 2.5 million teenage pregnancies.
Childbirth-related deaths for girls aged 15-19 accounts for the highest maternal mortality rates, especially in the developing countries. This implies that more teenage girls will not only drop out of school due to pregnancy but many could die if interventions are not put in place.
The Sustainable Development Goals that seek to improve equity and quality of education and improved healthcare by 2030 have suffered serious setbacks. The government must probe Covid-19 effects on girls’ education and act fast.
There is a need to adopt policies and even constitutional reforms that seek to protect our school children from forced labour, teenage pregnancy and marriage.
The government should make deliberate efforts to find out the status of affected families so as to give them school support to their children. It should also enhance psychosocial support programmes in schools to bring back all abused children. BY DAILY NATION