POLICY BRIEF JANUARY 2022 GIRLS’ LIVED EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOL CLOSURES: INSIGHTS FROM INTERVIEWS WITH GIRLS AND MOTHERS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN Rabea Malika, Najaf Zahrab, Ayesha Tahirc & Koen Martijn Gevend SUMMARY • This note explores findings on the changing household dynamics in response to the mandated COVID-19 school closures in Punjab, Pakistan. • The SMS Girl Impact Evaluation and a complementing qualitative study assessed the lived experiences of girls during school closures. • Mothers and daughters in select districts were interviewed via phone. • The initial round of interviews tells a story of economic hardship, gendered division of household tasks, loss of learning, lack of engagement with educational TV programming, and fear that some students may not re-enrol when schools reopen. INTRODUCTION Globally, lockdowns and school closures in response to engagement with programs have decreased since their launch COVID-19 affected over 1.6 billion learners. Even now, school (World Bank, 2021). closures affect millions of children. Further, in low- and middle- income countries, the share of children living in learning poverty Alongside remote learning programs5, households resorted (53 percent prior to the pandemic) could potentially reach to private and home tutoring services.6,7 In most households, 70 percent.1 Past global crises have increased the gendered elder siblings and parents helped students with schoolwork and household burdens for younger girls and frequent school syllabus revisions. In some cases, parents hired private tutors closures have increased the possibility of early marriage and or admitted their children in tutoring schools. The provincial pregnancy (Korkoyah & Wreh, 2015; Cousins, 2020). government in Punjab is also using existing programs, such as the Zewar-e-taleem8 stipend program, to maintain girls’ In March 2020, as COVID-19 cases rose, Pakistan instituted enrolment when schools reopen. widespread school closures. Almost 50 million children—12 million of them in the province of Punjab—found themselves 1 UNESCO, UNICEF and WORLD BANK, 2021. The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path out of school. Within a few weeks of schools closing, the Ministry to Recovery 2 Teleschool is a federal initiative for students across Pakistan. of Federal Education and Professional Training and the School 3 Taleem Ghar is a provincial initiative launched by the Government of Punjab. 4 Assessments show that 2 in every 5 Pakistanis are aware of Teleschool, and 1 in 3 Pakistanis Education Department of the province of Punjab, supported by have accessed lessons at some point. The Taleem Ghar mobile app has been downloaded the World Bank and other affiliates, developed two educational 72,000 times and the website has been accessed more than 180,000 times since its launch (Zacharia, 2020). television programming initiatives: TeleSchool2 and Taleem 5 Remote Learning Programs include Taleem Ghar, Teleschool, and other learning programs Ghar.3 Both initiatives were primarily broadcast on television, on YouTube, Whatsapp, Zoom, including Khan Academy, Radio-My Best Friend (UNESCO)/ Listen to Learn. but were later hosted on YouTube and mobile applications 6 A shadow market for private tutoring exists in all urban and many rural locations in Pakistan, (Zacharia, 2020). Early assessments of the initiatives show high where individuals, academies or tutoring centers provide paid supplementary tutoring (Aslam & Atherton, 2012). Traditionally, private tutoring is acquired outside of school hours. uptake and popularity (Gallup, 2020)4; however, awareness and This sector is comprised of diverse actors (including schoolteachers) and is unregulated in Pakistan. During school closures it was able to remain functional, often offering the only alternative for continuing studies. a Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives, rabea.malik@ideaspak.org 7 The SMS GIRL surveys report increased private tutoring during school closures and re- b South Asia Gender Innovation Lab, World Bank. nzahra@worldbank.org openings (Geven, et al., 2021). c South Asia Education, atahir@worldbank.org 8 Zewar-e-Taleem Program is the conditional cash transfer to the girl students enrolled in d South Asia Education, kgeven@worldbank.org public sector schools in 16 districts with low literacy. JANUARY 2022 | 1 To devise effective policy strategies for mitigating the impact of pandemic disruptions for girls’ schooling and learning, it is important to understand the ways in which their lives have been impacted, the challenges faced during closures and once they have returned to school. SMS GIRL IMPACT EVALUATION Repeated school closures and a staggered reopening of This brief presents the findings from the in-depth interviews. schools have put re-enrolments at risk, particularly for girls. The sample chosen for the interviews is a subset of the Income shocks can make intra-household decisions more larger survey sample for the study. A purposive sampling gendered, including enrolment and expenditure decisions strategy was adopted to ensure representation across toward education (Aslam & Kingdon, 2008). These changes treatment types, districts, socioeconomic strata, and in decision-making can become permanent and contribute academic performance. Seventy-two households were significantly toward a higher rate of school dropout for girls. selected across six districts.9 The sample included high and To devise effective policy strategies for mitigating the impact low performers10 and high- and low-income households. The of pandemic disruptions on girls’ schooling and learning, it first round of interviews was conducted between November is important to collect evidence on the ways in which their and December 2020. Interviews were semi-structured lives have been impacted, the challenges faced during conversations, which were adapted to individual household closures and the challenges they may face if and when they contexts. Appendix 1 lists the questions and prompts used return to school. to guide conversations with mothers and girls. The average phone conversation lasted for 30 minutes. Figure 1 illustrates The SMS GIRL Impact Evaluation aims to gather this evidence these sample characteristics. by evaluating the relative effectiveness of sending phone- based text messages to parents to ensure that adolescent girls (typically aged 10-14 years) continue to learn during school closures and re-enrol in schools once they reopen. The Impact Evaluation is supported by a qualitative research study that aims to understand the household level dynamics and the lived experiences of girls during the pandemic. Details on the design of the evaluation and findings from the quantitative surveys are discussed in a recently published brief (Geven, et al., 2021) QUALITATIVE STUDY METHODOLOGY Since social distancing and lockdown mandates limited the conventional processes of conducting research and investigations, the SMS GIRL team designed a virtual qualitative study. In the Punjab province of Pakistan, in- depth interviews were conducted over the phone with households of school-going girls between ages 10 to 14 years and with their mothers. The qualitative study is intended to generate information about girls’ lived experiences during the lockdown, the nature and quality of support available, parents’ educational aspirations for their girls, and the exposure to and experience of distance 9 Districts include Attock, Faisalabad, Lahore, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, and Sargodha. learning measures introduced by the government. Findings 10 High and low achieving students from the highest and lowest quintiles of test scores from the Systems Approach to Better Education Results (SABER) survey data. The data is a from the qualitative study are helping to refine the SMS collection of school-based surveys implemented globally since 2016. So far, three countries GIRL intervention. are included in the series: Laos PDR, Afghanistan and the province of Punjab in Pakistan. 2 | POLICY BRIEF Figure 1. Sample Demographics 5 PUBLIC URBAN, 3 PRIVATE, SARGODHA 4 PUBLIC SCHOOLS RURAL ATTOCK 3 PUBLIC URBAN, 6 DISTRICTS FAISALABAD, 4 PRIVATE, LAHORE, 5 PUBLIC MUZAFFARGARH, SCHOOLS RURAL RAHIMYAR KHAN 4 PUBLIC URBAN, 72 4 PRIVATE, HOUSEHOLDS 4 PUBLIC SCHOOLS RURAL 72 MOTHERS 72 DAUGHTERS 36 LOW ACHIEVING STUDENTS 36 HIGH ACHIEVING STUDENTS JANUARY 2022 | 3 FINDINGS FROM THE FIELD INCOME UNCERTAINTY AND DIMINISHED PARENTAL SUPPORT: A THREAT TO GIRLS’ LEARNING Pandemic lockdowns resulted in a sharp decline in household incomes11, particularly in the cities in Pakistan. These declines persisted even after lockdowns were discontinued. In several cases, the loss of employment by the primary earners (the men) was temporary, but in others the disruption was more permanent. This created significant economic distress, particularly in households with daily wage earners and where no secondary source of income was available. Fathers with permanent jobs (private or government) continued to receive their salaries through the lockdown period, but this was not the case for daily wage and temporary workers. One mother narrated her financial struggles: The link between income shocks and threats to continuation of girls’ education emerged clearly in the interviews. “ When my husband was out of Respondents spoke about families planning to discontinue work, we [still] had 5 children girls’ schooling altogether so that the girls could help with to feed… there are 7 people household chores full time. Income shocks have also altered in the household. We had to parental expectations regarding the highest grade their child feed ourselves. When work had will complete, with almost 25 percent of the households discontinued, we had limited reporting reduced expectations (Hasan, et al., 2021). One savings. I was worried about girl articulated the stress of this situation: how I was going to cover all our expenses for the children. I was unsuccessful in borrowing money “ also. The government helped Covid-19 threatened my future during the Corona [months]. My plans because there was no husband got some utility supplies income in our household during from a charity. That’s how, that time. Schools were closed somehow, we made ends meet. and we could not afford tuition – Mother, high-achieving [private tutoring]. We could ” daughter, government rural not study at home or even at school tuition centers [private tutoring classes]. At times, I would consider dropping out of school and learning a skill to reduce my mother’s stress about meeting my educational expenses. I wanted to study but the conditions made me think this way. ” – Girl, high achiever, government 11 Baseline data reports that almost 36% of the households report losing a substantial share urban school of income since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in line with evidence in other surveys such as those conducted by the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP) and the Center for Global Development (CGD). 4 | POLICY BRIEF Financial distress constrained parents’ ability to support their children, particularly the girls, during this period.12 One mother expressed her concern: “ No, we were not able to help our daughter at all. For one, [my husband] is a daily wage worker and he does not earn enough to cover our expenses. How can we afford tuition [private tutoring]? During school closures, my husband was also out of work because of the lockdown. He was ” unable to get his daily wage job. Those days we survived by borrowing money from people. – Mother, high-achieving daughter, government rural school This financial constraint prevented parents from organizing private tutoring for their children, which interviews revealed to be the dominant strategy for parents to mitigate learning losses. Mothers who were able to organize private tutoring classes for their girls said that their main motivation was to ensure that the girls did not forget the knowledge acquired at school in previous years. The girls who took tutoring classes reported that they were studying the same amount during the school closures as they did when schools were open. This signals a potential gap in learning trajectories between children who attended tutoring classes during school closures and those who did not. Location and affordability determined access to private tutoring, i.e., households in proximity to tutoring centers with a stable income and/or enough to spare for this expense could access these services. Mothers emerged as champions for girls’ education in different ways. Some spoke candidly about having to choose between ensuring that there was sufficient food at home and paying for tutoring services. Those with skills started cottage businesses to generate income for their families through the lockdown. Those who could, borrowed from their families to bear the extra costs for tutoring. Some reported convincing private tutors to continue classes for free. Several mothers reported having to convince unsupportive family and community members to allow girls to continue their education. HOUSEHOLD BURDEN OF WORK: A STORY OF GENDERED ROLES Lockdown measures kept families housebound for up to three months, immediately increasing the gendered burden of work. All mothers and daughters interviewed for this qualitative study reported an increase in daily household chores during lockdown, including increased cleaning, cooking, washing, and longer hours of childcare. This increased burden continued for the period of the school closures, which lasted longer than the lockdown. Following traditional models of gender roles, fathers and sons rarely supported the women in housework. Young men did, however, support their families by taking on an increased share of chores outside the house, including buying groceries and other items for the girls, fetching water from the filtration plant and, in some instances, accompanying their sisters to private tutoring classes. In a few instances, sons also accompanied their fathers to work. A time use survey meant to gather activity data validated that girls spent more time on household chores relative to boys. 12 There is some indication that financial distress and the need to generate income during lockdown threatened boys’ education as well. While boys’ education wasn’t a focus of this study, it did emerge that some of the elder boys had to start working because the fathers either lost their jobs or fell ill. JANUARY 2022 | 5 Time spent on household chores for girls peaked during school closures (Geven, et al., 2021). One girl narrated her altered household dynamics: “ I am the only girl; I do not have any sisters, so I do all the housework with my mother. I have two brothers. One is older than me and is in the 8th grade. The other is younger and is in the 4th grade. My older brother helps a lot. He buys all the vegetables and is responsible for getting all the groceries for the house. He is responsible for dropping me to my tuition [tutoring] classes and teaching my younger ” brother. Often, when my father did not feel well, he would set up the roadside stall in the streets nearby. – Girl, low achiever, private school The eldest/elder daughters took on the most chores and shared a larger proportion of the household burden with their mothers. Many of these girls had automatically assumed additional household responsibilities and reported juggling their studies alongside household chores. Many elder sisters reported advising their parents on the advantages of watching educational TV channels and communicated information on school closures and remote study. In most families, the elder girls helped their younger siblings with schoolwork, either with revisions or teaching ahead in the syllabus. One girl shared her responsibility as an older sibling: “ I have one sister and two younger brothers and because I am the oldest, it’s obvious that I have the most work-related responsibilities. I helped my mother with household work. Sometimes I washed the dishes or swept and mopped the house. If mother was doing the laundry, I would wring the clothes and hang them to dry. Sometimes, I would take my siblings out to play so that mother could get her work done. I understood mother had a lot of household work and so I helped in whatever ” way I could without her asking me to do it. I am the oldest and had to be the one to realize this. – Girl, high achiever, government rural school 6 | POLICY BRIEF In rare cases, elder brothers reported helping children, also presented challenges. Many girls reported the lack of including the girls, with schoolwork and revisions. While interaction with instructor and peers to be a major barrier the expected cost of increased burden of work is reduced to engagement: time for studies, most girls reported that they made time to study despite housework. Boys generally had more mobility and free time to play, meet friends and study, whereas girls compromised on leisure time. “ I used to like those TV programs USE OF CELL PHONES AND TELEVISION FOR while I watched them. They were LEARNING: UNEQUAL ACCESS AND USABILITY useful. The problem was that we could not ask questions if we did Mothers and girls were also asked about remote learning not understand something. I had to programs. Many interviewees reported not knowing about call my mother and that topic would the television educational channels because they did not own pass since we could not pause it. It a television.13 Those that did have a TV were often unaware did help me somewhat understand of these channels. Overall, there was little engagement with concepts I had studied earlier, remote learning programs. These findings were in line with and I reviewed and memorized the survey results, where only 14 percent of parents reported them. So, I think they were useful. that their children engaged with a remote learning activity I did understand some things at home during the first round of school closures (August to – Girl, low achiever, private school September 2020). Engagement with remote programs has reduced further in the second round of school closures, with only 8 percent of girls and 2 percent of boys participating I only watched this channel in remote learning as of October 2021 (Geven, et al., 2021). [educational TV] once or twice, so I do not know much about it. A minority reported watching educational programs as a These programs taught content via way of keeping up with learning at home. Few found them cartoons and animations. I did not useful, either because the content differed from the syllabus watch it a lot as I did not understand or because of limited or no interaction with instructions on it. The channels covered topics that the screen. The pace of teaching and medium of instruction I did not find interesting; therefore, watching the channel would not have made a big difference as the content ” was not related to my syllabus. – Girl, high achiever, private school Families’ attitudes toward television may have reduced engagement with remote learning programs. Most families viewed television as an unsuitable medium for study and associated it with soap operas and termed it a disturbance. Most children in these households said that they did not regularly watch channels as an alternative to attending classes and generally watched television as a form of entertainment. Several mothers reported that their husbands did not think that it was appropriate for children to watch TV and had either given away the TV or opted not to get a cable connection. Only one mother mentioned that her son received a link from their school on his mobile 13 phone and used it to access his coursework. JANUARY 2022 | 7 LEARNING LOSS: IN WORDS OF MOTHERS AND GIRLS school closures reported having forgotten their previous lessons. The main anxieties expressed by mothers with regard to learning losses were linked with repeated school closures. Self-study did not seem to make much of a difference. For them, these interruptions in routine classes meant that Girls spoke about the limitations of self-study and limited their girls would experience inconsistent learning and a loss guidance: of motivation to study which could result in them dropping out of school. One mother expressed her concern about learning losses: “ Yes, we did not attend school for over 7 months, so it was evident that we “ would forget most of what we had When the schools were closed, learned last year. We did not attend we were worried about our tuition [tutoring classes] as well. daughter’s education. The Whatever we studied, we studied biggest worry was that she it ourselves and that is why I have would lose interest in studying forgotten many things. The 5th grade because she had to study at examinations were being conducted home and studying at home was when the break was announced very difficult. The effect of going and not taking the exams affected to school and studying there is our education because we did not completely different to studying study those books afterwards. at home, because children learn – Girl, high achiever, public rural more at school but at home, school they just rote memorize even if they do not understand it. Since my hope is that she becomes a Yes, I forgot a lot because I did teacher, she would need to attain not study anything. I could study a high level of education and some things that were easy. complete a masters [degree]. Additionally, my sisters and brother ” – Mother, high-achieving would explain the content that daughter, private school they understood. If they did not understand it then I would ask my friend for help and later revise it only if I understood it. However, I would abandon it if I did not understand it. ” Several mothers who were either illiterate or had received – Girl, low achiever, private rural limited education were unsure about the extent to which school. their daughters had retained knowledge. They felt that their daughters or their teachers would be better placed to respond to the question. Some mothers were able to articulate a perceived learning loss, including loss of numeracy and literacy skills. For example, they said that CONCLUSION their girls could do math faster before school closures or were now reading slower. They felt also that the girls were This brief presents findings from the first of three rounds of forgetting lessons they had learned. qualitative interviews that are being conducted to support the SMS Girl impact evaluation. These anxieties were not echoed by the girls, who were mostly confident about their studies and skills. However, girls The risk of school dropout for girls is high because of who did not have access to private tutoring classes during frequent school closures. Repeated lockdowns and income 8 | POLICY BRIEF shocks have limited parents’ ability to provide their daughters BIBLIOGRAPHY with adequate educational support. Families who have the financial means are resorting to private tutoring to continue Akmal, M. et al., 2020. Who Is Going Back to School? A Four- educational learning for their children. Country Rapid Survey in Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan, Center for Global Development. Households are adapting to these changing dynamics in different ways. Men and women are conforming to Aslam, M. & Atherton, P., 2012. The ‘Shadow’ Education gender roles in their daily lives and this has resulted in a Sector in India and Pakistan: The Determinants, Benefits and disproportionate division of household responsibilities Equity Effects of Private Tutoring. ESP Working Paper Series. between male and female household members. Elder Aslam, M. & Kingdon, G., 2008. Gender and household siblings are taking on a greater share of household education expenditure in Pakistan. Applied Economics, responsibilities, including helping younger siblings and 40(20), pp. 2573-2591. cousins with homework and syllabus revisions. Cousins, S., 2020. 2·5 million more child marriages due to Awareness and use of educational television have COVID-19 pandemic. World Report, 396(10257). decreased since its launch in early 2020. This can be Gallup, 2020. Rapid Assessment of Teleschool Initiative, attributed to a limiting interface that inhibits active Gallup Pakistan. engagement with students, and societal norms that do not Geven, K., Fazili, S., Tahir, A. & Fasih, T., 2021. SMS GIRL consider television as an educational tool for learning. DATA INSIGHTS 2: As schools reopened after 18 months, are Subsequent rounds of interviews will explore these changing adolescent girls and boys back in school and engaged with dynamics in detail and will include narratives from male learning? Evidence from four surveys in Punjab, Pakistan. members of the households. November. Hasan, A., Geven, K. & Tahir, A., 2021. How has COVID-19 affected support for girls’ education in Punjab, Pakistan?, SMS GIRL IMPACT EVALUATION The World Bank Group. CONTRIBUTORS Korkoyah, D. T. & Wreh, F. F., 2015. Ebola Impact Revealed: An Assessment of the Differing Impact of the Outbreak on Koen Geven, Tazeen Fasih, Amer Hasan, Rabea Malik, Women and Men in Liberia, Oxfam International. Javaeria Qureshi, Kevin MacDonald, Ayesha Tahir, Sheena UNESCO, UNICEF and WORLD BANK, 2021. The State of the Fazili, Najaf Zahra, and Naveed Hussain. Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery. The qualitative assessment findings are supported by the World Bank, 2020. The COVID-19 Pandemic: Shocks to South Asia Gender Innovation Lab. Education and Policy Responses , The World Bank Group. World Bank, 2021. Thinking Inside the ‘Box’: Pakistan Turns to Education TV During COVID-19, World Bank. Zacharia, S., 2020. Pakistan: TeleSchool and Taleem Ghar (Educational TV at Home), The World Bank. STAY CONNECTED We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE). The UFGE is a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment through experimentation and knowledge creation aimed at helping The research highlighted in this brief is forthcoming as a journal article: “Effects of a Multi-Faceted Education Program on Enrollment, Learning and Gender Equity: Evidence from India”, Delavallade, Clara; Alan Griffith; and Rebecca Thornton. World Bank Economic Review, forthcoming. governments and the This brief was produced private sector in collaboration focus policies with researchers andBank’s at the World programs on scalable Africa Gender Innovationsolutions with Lab (AFRGIL), SARGENDERLAB@WORLDBANK.ORG which conducts impact evaluations of development interventions and leads policy sustainable research onoutcomes. gaps inhas The UFGE how to close gender received earnings, generous productivity, assets, contributions from and agency. For more Australia, information, Canada, visit: http://www.worldbank.org/africa/gil Denmark, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Latvia, Spain, Sweden, WORLDBANK.ORG/SARGENDERLAB Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 8 | POLICY BRIEF APPENDIX BOX 1: KEY THEMES FROM BASELINE INTERVIEWS WITH MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS Themes Mothers’ Interviews Daughters’ interviews Life During School - Daughters’ burden of work - Daily rou�nes, burden of work, closures and - Gendered differences in children’s work including gendered differences lockdown burdens at home - Contact and connec�ons with - Exposure to COVID-19 - – health, economic, friends and others - Changes in burden of work a�er school re-opening Educational support - Types of support provided for children’s - Support received for con�nuing received from educa�on, including encouragement and studies by parents, teachers’ and families for financial support others education during - Challenges faced in organizing support - Family a�tudes towards girls’ school closures - Gendered differences in support provided educa�on and any changes due - Nature of fathers’ support for girls’ to COVID-19-related disrup�ons educa�on Interaction with Individual and family responses and experiences with text messages received study text messages Experience of - Impact of school closures on learning - Studying schedules during school remote learning levels of girls and boys closures and learning losses - Experience of mul�ple closures - Home environment and difficul�es associated (if any) with studying at home - Government’s TV channels Fears and - Historical aspira�ons for daughters’ - Personal aspira�ons for aspirations for girls’ educa�on educa�on education - Covid-induced changes/threats to these - Aspira�ons for work aspira�ons - Any COVID-induced changes - Husband’s aspira�ons for girls to plans/aspira�ons - Gendered differences in aspira�ons for girls and boys