Child-Marriage, COVID-19 and Education: Investigating socio-cultural challenges and navigating gendered access to technology in India

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Solicited Content: Global South

Abstract

As the pandemic forced school closures indefinitely, there has been devastating impact on the rural girls and their communities across the globe. In India, school closures during COVID19 have greatly exacerbated existing structural inequities for vulnerable rural adolescent girls prone to early marriage in order to access education (UNESCO, 2020).
Prior evidence shows links between lack of access to education and higher rates of child marriage, and indefinite school closures only have a negative impact. With limited resources, families will pull their daughters out of schools to either earn income or to get married as a way to “protect” them. The impact of lockdown also means girls are at home for longer periods, putting them at greater risk of domestic violence. (Malala Fund, 2020).
The global push to move into online spaces assuming equal access to technology and learning, which is not the case for the majority of the girls. Even when the household does have a technological access, the girls are not able to access learning as they are expected to take on more household chores (Nirantar Trust, 2020).
As a result, its crucial to understand the challenges COVID has posed for young girls in pursuit of their education and find alternative ways to connect with them. The current study explores two research questions in this respect:
RQ1: What are the challenges being faced by adolescent girls in continuing education in areas where child marriage is high?
RQ2: How can Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) be used to navigate the inequities around access to education?

Procedure. For RQ1, survey with 200 rural Indian girls and 30 teachers is being conducted to understand the challenges being faced by adolescent girls who have been pushed out of schools during the COVID and are at increased risk of early marriage. This will be followed by 2 focus groups with the girls and 1 focus group with six community workers.
RQ2 will explore the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) and its usage as a response in this context of low resource settings through a case study approach. This will include program design description, development process and program data analysis coupled with the program team’s interviews to develop a set of learnings around its implementation. Additionally, phone calls with 200 parents will gather inputs on both RQ1 and RQ2.

Analyses. Firstly, quantitative data will be analyzed by coding in R, a free data analysis software which will be substantiated with coding of Focus Group discussions using NVivo software to identify major themes emerging. For the IVRS case study, interviews with team members will be analyzed in NVivo for content analysis and this will be followed by conducting a trend analysis of the quantitative program data.

Implications. The current work is a step towards reaching out to adolescent girls from marginalized communities who stand a strong chance to lose their access to education and opportunities to pursue their dreams and possibilities.

Author

• Ananya Tiwari, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author