The education institutions of the country have been closed for over two and a half months. The government has been urging everyone to stay at home to counter the spread of the deadly and highly contagious coronvarius.
Presently, even though the severity of the lockdown has been reduced and the country has been more or less opened up for the purpose of keeping the wheel of economy spinning, there are still many worries which are left unanswered.
Recently, the incidents of dropping out from educational institutions as well as child marriage might prove to increase due to long time abstention from studies because of coronavirus.
A recent report published in this daily projected that at least 80 percent students from the primary and secondary schools may drop out owing to long time closure of schools and increasing poverty due to the impact on economy caused by coronavirus.
Although the situation of child marriage has improved in the country in recent times, the problem still remains. About half of the girls under 18 are still getting married.
When facing such a situation which is unfavorable both
physically and financially, they may be prone to try to
earn extra money for the family by using their children
In this condition, there is a risk of the rate of child marriage to get increased due to the effect of coronavirus infection. This means that a substantial number of girls are facing the crisis of becoming dropouts and thus wasting away their potential to do something better for the country and nation.
Experts opine that students living around shoal or wetlands areas will drop out at a higher rate during the corona crisis. There is also the tendency to barter children for family cause.
Apart from lack of awareness, parents in remote areas have less financial stability. When facing such a situation which is unfavorable both physically and financially, they may be prone to try to earn extra money for the family by using their children.
We need to be more vigilant in this case as there is risk of increasing school dropout and child marriage at this time. In this case, the authorities concerned must take appropriate steps so that no such dropouts occur.
