ANNOUNCEMENTS
In developing countries like India, gaps exist in the challenges and opportunities faced by the male and female population of the country. There exists humungous amount of literature on the concept of gender inequality and education. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak the education system has been changed and there is a transition from on-site teaching mode to online-teaching mode. This transition has led to many challenges both physical and emotional. Lower income population is considered to be the most vulnerable section of the society, so the impact has disproportionately fallen on this section of the society. This study is focused on analyzing the impact of the pandemic on the school going children living in the slums especially on the girls. A primary survey has been conducted in two selected slums of West Delhi with the help of questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and econometric modelling generated using STATA shows the gendered impact of the pandemic and the impact of the socio-demographic factors that play a significant role in influencing the education of the child. The method used for analyzing results is Poisson, Logit and Multi - logit regressions. The results reveal that there exists gender disparity and it has been observed that females are affected disproportionately as compared to males. Furthermore, it is suggested that the role of government in making the prerequisites of technology available is the most crucial. Lastly, few policy implications have been provided for the same.
Key words - Gender, education, digital divide, Covid-19 pandemic.
