Like many 16-year-olds around the world, Bosman Quarshie's education has moved online. But the drive she once had to study fizzled out when her upcoming high school exams were canceled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Bosman Quarshie's mother, Valerie, says the economic conditions during lockdown have put the family on the poverty line. On top of that, research shows that disadvantaged children have a greater chance of their grades being under-assessed compared to their richer peers. "The pandemic is going to cause the greatest disruption to education opportunity that the world has experienced in at least a century," said Fernando M. Reimers, a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education."The combined effects of them [school closures] is going to basically stress test a system of structural inequalities that was already bad to begin."
Many children, who once had to walk for miles to the nearest school, now have to contend with a lack of digital access in the lockdown. Another Pew survey in 2018 found that even before the pandemic, about 17% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 said they were often -- or sometimes -- unable to finish homework assignments because of the lack of a connection or a computer.
While her school has provided learning packets, she worries that the loss of whole schooldays could set many people back in the next academic year.Beyond a loss of learning, lockdown measures can result in children lacking a quiet place to work -- or being unsafe at home. It is situation made worse by rising economic uncertainty, says Eric Hazard, African policy director at Save the Children.
"As pressures mount on low-income families, children may need to work to bolster family incomes or be victim of child marriage, and girls especially may also face a disproportionate burden of caring for family members who contract the virus or taking care of younger children."