Introduction
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to varied measures, including nationwide school closures, to contain the spread of the coronavirus. In Ghana, COVID-19 containment measures followed the address on March 16, 2020, by the President of the Republic of Ghana recommending actions geared towards reducing the spread of the virus by encouraging social distancing, of which the immediate closure of all public and private schools in Ghana was a key recommendation. Schools from the basic to tertiary levels were therefore closed down. Final year junior high school, senior high school and university students however returned to school to prepare for their final examinations following the President’s address to the nation on May 31, 2020.
The closure of schools, though an important step in the fight against COVID-19, has been of great concern to stakeholders in education – Ministry of Education (MoE), Ghana Education Service (GES), schools, students and parents, NGOs in education, and indeed the public – as it has led to disruptions in the education sector. As an international non-profit organization that works to eradicate poverty and inequality through girls’ education and young women’s empowerment, CAMFED is deeply concerned about the consequences of school closures for marginalized children, for whom schools represent a place of safety, as well as learning.
We stand with the MoE and GES in these difficult times, and are working to further strengthen our partnership with all stakeholders to explore innovative ways to facilitate teaching and learning with minimal disruptions to the academic calendar, and to support students through these challenging times.
The MoE and GES in their attempt to mitigate the effects of school closures on students’ learning have deployed distance and online learning arrangements for basic and senior high school students. Private schools across the country have also put in measures for students to benefit from e-learning platforms. These efforts to ensure continuous learning in the wake of the pandemic are commendable although the accessibility gap by rural and urban poor students remains to be bridged.
Impact of pandemic on girls’ education
Though it may take a while to appreciate the full extent of the pandemic on school children generally, and girls’ education in particular, according to Africa Education Watch, Ghana has about 7 million public basic and senior high school students who are at home as a result of the COVID-19 school break. With Ghana’s Gender Parity Index (GPI) for gross enrollment ratio in primary and secondary education standing at 1.008 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2020), about half of these school children are girls.
Although the benefits of supporting girls to go to school, stay in school and complete their education have been established by research worldwide, efforts to educate girls has been fraught with a plethora of constraints and challenges, including economic and social barriers. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the gains made in girls’ education stand to be eroded if deliberate courses of actions are not taken to forestall them.
Drawing on research work undertaken by child-centered agencies in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the immediate post-Ebola crisis, threats to girls’ education during and after the COVID-19 pandemic may include: increased exposure to sexual and gender-based violence at home and in communities; early marriage, early pregnancy and child-birth; girls taking responsibility for caregiving at home affecting their ability to study; and girls’ involvement in supplemental income-generating activities for the household. In addition, we are likely to see a waning interest in schooling due to long stay at home, all of which may lead to girls never returning when schools re-open. It is therefore imperative for all stakeholders in education to work to address the immediate and long term impact of COVID-19 on girls’ education.
Staying responsive to the needs of girls and their communities
CAMFED has, since the outbreak of COVID-19, undertaken a number of interventions to stay responsive to the young women we support and to whom we hold ourselves accountable. Our operational model has demonstrated resilience and determination in responding to the challenges of school closures, social distancing and other disease containment measures all geared towards supporting Scholars to cope with the psychosocial and academic challenges occasioned by COVID-19.
Information sharing has become essential as part of strategies at the community, national and international level to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and – including through young women leaders in the CAMFED Association – we have been responsive in sharing key messages with our clients and their communities on the outbreak of COVID-19 and important measures to prevent infection.
Additionally, to ensure that students continue to receive tuition following school closures, some tertiary institutions in Ghana have rolled out online lectures for students. One of the key interventions by CAMFED, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, has been the provision of mobile phone data packages for Scholars to participate in online lectures. Experts had previously been engaged to provide counselling services to Scholars on how to study effectively online, ensuring that they participate and benefit fully from online lectures, and can continue their education. In addition, we are conducting weekly check-up calls to establish how Scholars are faring and to provide requisite support if required.
There is no doubt jobs will be scarce in the immediate post-COVID-19 crisis which will inevitably compound the unemployment challenges young people, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, face. To support Scholars to transition smoothly into the world of work, CAMFED has engaged the services of resource persons to help shape and re-shape the career focus of the young women. The resource persons are helping with soft skills building while providing guidance on how to look for a job and be successful at a job interview. Career tips are also being shared while a CV book has been developed to provide useful information on CV-writing.
Though the challenges of COVID-19 are far-reaching and varied, CAMFED sees the challenging times we find ourselves in as an opportunity to work with our stakeholders and partners, such as the Mastercard Foundation, to exercise agility and adaptability in supporting school children across the country. Appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that school children are safe and healthy, and their psychological wellbeing protected.
Particular attention also needs to be paid to girls who are hardest-hit during such crisis. Focus needs to be on assessing what the specific impacts might be for girls’ education, how to support girls to stay safe and learn during this period, psychosocial support and counseling for girls, and how to incentivise girls to re-enter when schools reopen.
CAMFED, its partners and Community Champions wish to use this medium to call on like-minded organizations to support the MoE and GES, schools, teachers and school children to cope with the challenging times occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
