Covid-19 Pandemic and the Girl Child Education: The Case of Nigeria and South Africa

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only radically affected lives and ways of living but has wreaked havoc on education systems globally. United Nations estimates that over 1.6 billion students worldwide have been affected by school closures that were necessitated by the pandemic. Although learning and teaching continued virtually in various countries, the challenges of this new mode of education were more burdensome in some countries than in others. While studies on the impact of the pandemic on education and gender inequalities have been conducted, few have focused specifically on the impact of the pandemic on girl child education. This chapter discusses the impact of the pandemic on girl child education in Africa. Although the authors present the cases of two of Africa’s biggest economies, Nigeria and South Africa, the recommendations for research and policy presented will undoubtedly prove useful to other countries on the continent and improve education generally.