Uncovered: The real impact of Covid-19 school closures for girls in South Sudan

New research from Windle Trust International has revealed the true extent of school dropouts among girls in South Sudan following school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

When Covid-19 struck, societies around the world went into lockdown, and schools closed their doors. For a country like South Sudan where education was already vulnerable, the impacts of school closures were devastating, particularly for girls. WTI’s new report on the impact of Covid-19 school closures on girls’ education in South Sudan analyses the extent of the impact and makes recommendations for what needs to be done now. 

To better understand the impacts of Covid-19 of girls’ education in South Sudan, WTI conducted research in Lakes and Unity states to find the extent of school dropouts through the Covid-19 period and the reasons given. 

This article presents a brief report on the impact of the lockdown and resultant school closures due to Covid-19 on girls’ enrolment and completion of primary eight (P8) and secondary four (S4) in two States, Lakes and Unity. The study employed qualitative methodology with data collected by WTI staff in selected schools with female candidates in (P8 & S4) classes in all the 15 counties of the two states. Data on P8 and S4 female enrolment at the beginning of 2020 and the gaps in data created by Covid-19-related school closure when schools re-opened in October 2020 were analysed. The data also looked particularly at the reasons for dropouts and the number of students who eventually sat the primary and secondary school national examinations in February and March 2021.