The impact of COVID-19 on girls’ education in the Dominican Republic
18-year-old Mae Peralta writes about how the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges girls in her country face in going to school. (Courtesy of Mae Peralta)
18-year-old Mae Peralta writes about how the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges girls in her country face in going to school.
On March 11, 2020, the world as we knew it changed. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, sending much of the world into lockdown. As a result, almost 90% of the world’s countries eventually shut their schools in efforts to slow the transmission of the coronavirus.
In my home country, the Dominican Republic, the government closed almost every educational establishment in the country and we switched from in-person schooling to distance learning. My school had the preparation and resources necessary to continue our classes virtually without any problem. And even though I’m extremely thankful I was able to pursue my education virtually, I must admit that it was a hard transition. It was a challenge going from being in school in person and seeing my friends and teachers every single day to attending classes through my computer screen and working alone in my room.
However, thousands of Dominican girls — especially those from low-income neighborhoods and rural areas — weren’t as lucky as me and couldn’t make the switch to distance learning. Early marriage, teen pregnancies, poverty and limited access to electronic devices keep them from continuing their education during the crisis, restricting their ability to realize their dreams.
“Even though I’m extremely thankful I was able to pursue my education virtually, I must admit that it was a hard transition. It was a challenge going from being in school in person and seeing my friends and teachers every single day to attending classes through my computer screen and working alone in my room.” (Courtesy of Mae Peralta)
Unfortunately these issues are not new; the COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated the challenges that many Dominican girls already faced. Before the pandemic, the Dominican Republic had the highest average in Latin America of girls and adolescents married before the age of 18. According to the Encuesta Nacional de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples, 36% of young women were married or united before the age of 18 and 12% were married or united before the age of 15. This far exceeds the regional averages of 23% and 5% respectively. Save the Children estimates that by 2025, the economic impact of COVID-19 will put 73,400 more girls at risk of child marriage and 181,000 more adolescent girls at risk of pregnancy. Rates of child marriage are already higher than ever.
Child labor and gender-based violence are other issues my country has contended with for many years that have become worse during the pandemic. In 2013, UNICEF estimated that half of all Dominicans under the age of 18 live in poverty; these conditions force children out of the classroom and into paid work in order to help support their families. With the increased economic challenges during the COVID-19 crisis and the lack of accessible remote learning opportunities, many children — particularly girls — have ended up the victims of child labor and sexual exploitation. Before the pandemic, fear of harassment hindered many Dominican girls from safely going to school. Rates of gender-based violence have only increased around the world as girls and women are confined to close quarters with their abusers and cut off from support systems. In the Dominican Republic, during the first 25 days of quarantine, the violence service of the Ministry of Women's Affairs received 619 calls with reports of gender-based violence.
This is the reality of the country that I otherwise love and cherish. Knowing that only some girls can go to school and achieve their ambitions while many others are denied their rights makes me so sad. It also motivates me to help change the situation by spreading awareness about this issue and supporting girls’ education organizations.
But it’s not just up to girls’ education activists like me to create change. There are many steps the Dominican government could take to address the ways the COVID-19 crisis has affected girls’ education. Officials could offer educational radio and television programs from primary to secondary school so girls who don’t have access to electronic devices could still learn from home. Banning child marriage in January 2021 was a good first step, but the government can also be doing more, like supporting child marriage hotlines, strengthening legal systems to protect girls’ rights and funding research on the issue to inform tracking, policies and programs.
“The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated problems that have existed for decades and it’s time that the government address them — both for girls’ futures and our country’s.”
It is also critical that our government promotes social protection measures — including laws condemning practices such as child labor — to improve girls’ transition to and retention in secondary school. Additionally, to see all Dominican girls in school for a full 12 years of education after the COVID-19 crisis, the government needs to revise national education plans and policies to prioritize gender equality. They must remove gender stereotypes from textbooks and create a safe school environment free of gender-based violence. The government should fund high-quality training for teachers on all forms of gender-based violence, effective prevention strategies and positive discipline methods to create safe and gender-responsive learning environments. They should integrate school-related gender-based violence into national policies and education sector plans.
Girls’ education in the Dominican Republic is an urgent situation that requires urgent action. The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated problems that have existed for decades and it’s time that the government address them — both for girls’ futures and our country’s.
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