Enrolment in Punjab’s Schools Dropped 29% in Pandemic

A World Bank report has revealed that the enrolment ratio of adolescent students in public and private schools of Punjab significantly dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report, based on four surveys comprising interviews of 5,898 families conducted over 1.5 years, found that 8% of adolescent girls and 21% of boys were no longer in schools.

“Triangulating these figures with national survey data presents a similar picture, with about 10 percent of adolescent students not returning to school by June 2021,” the report said.

The report found that the closure of schools due to the pandemic put an extra burden on female students, as they self-studied while looking after household chores, while boys mostly stayed outside the home.

“Boys spent considerably more time doing paid work outside the household ranging from an average of 29 minutes during the first round of school closures to 11 minutes from September to October 2021,” it noted.

According to the report, financial difficulties are the most important reason behind the massive drop-out.

“Financial difficulties are the most important reason for pulling children out of school cited by families and are most likely the reason there are higher drop-outs among boys, who typically have more opportunities to generate income for families,” the report said.

The report also highlighted various bottlenecks in remote learning, particularly for girls. In some cases, girls were also found to have limited access to TV and cellphones at home.

“Mothers reported that their husbands did not think that it was appropriate for children, particularly girls to watch TV and had either given away the TV or opted not to get a cable connection,” the report added.

Other key factors, non-technological in nature, which limited the impact of remote learning are lack of interaction with instructors and peers, the pace of teaching, and the medium of instruction.