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72. Girls Out of School (with Jyotsna Jha)
Pandemic worsens the gender gap
Speakers
Jyotsna Jha talks to host Pavan Srinath about how Indian girl children have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jyotsna and her colleagues have published a new study on how children’s education is faring amidst deep economic uncertainty faced by millions of Indian families, by surveying over 3,100 households across 4 states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Telangana.
In this episode, Jyotsna shares the state of the gender gap in education and society before the pandemic, and how girls are faring now, with schools shut down and families in economic crisis. Things look dire, with girls losing their freedom of movement, with limited phone access and uncertainty over ever going back to school.
She also shares how boys are also adversely affected and goes beyond the study to discuss what is likely to happen in the future. Jyotsna and Pavan also discuss what should be immediate and medium-term priorities for India’s schooling system and getting children back to school.
Jyotsna Jha is the Director of the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, a Bangalore-based think tank focused on policy research and advocacy. Jyotsna has a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Her research primarily focuses on education and gender. She has actively worked with educational policy planners, administrators, teachers, and professionals at various levels both nationally and internationally.
Links to the study:
- Neha Ghatak, Achala S Yareseeme and Jyotsna Jha, (2020). “Life in the time of Covid-19: Mapping the impact of Covid-19 on the lives of school-going children especially girls in India”. Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (www.cbps.in) and India Champions for Girls’ Education. (Full Research Report)
- National Policy Brief
- State Policy Briefs for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Telangana
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Speakers
Jyotsna Jha
Dr. Jyotsna Jha presently heads Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (CBPS), located in Bangalore, India. She has led a number of research initiatives and has a few co-authored books, several chapters and papers to her credit. She has written mainly on the issue of equity in education, and in particular on gender and education. In recent years., she has also been engaged with the issues of public policies and finance in general and gender budgeting and public spending on children in particular.
Trained as an economist, Jyotsna has significant experience of working on development related issues. Prior to joining CBPS she worked as an adviser to Social Transformation Programmes Division at Commonwealth Secretariat in London, from where she undertook research and policy advocacy in a large number of countries. She has served as a member of the Global Advisory Committee for UN Girls Education Initiative – UNGEI for four years. She has also been a member of several national committees and Task Forces in India.
