Educational Vulnerability of Children to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh

The school closures that had been announced around the world since the outbreak of the epidemic had caused massive educational damages to the primary school-going children. This study was designed to reveal the educational damages that creates long-term social impacts on the children. The data was collected by using mixed method. This mixed method research design was arranged through survey method and direct interview method to collect, analyze and mix data in both quantitative and qualitative methods. 150 respondents were interviewed to collect primary data. Houses of young children were identified with the help of a research field worker after severe lockdown was eased between April and July during the Corona period in 2022. Then the data was collected with the consent of parents by fixing the sample purposefully. Parents were divided into three groups based on their family’s monthly income with their residential patterns, such as, flats, Semi-flat and Raw houses. Fifteen case studies and three FGDs of fathers were also included to enrich the primary data. Children’s uses of phones and watching TV had increased at home confinement. They insisted on playing video games. Maximum little children did not follow the routine of sports and studies. They did not like to attend online classes at all. They preferred to go to school. But their schools remain closed in phases for two years of the pandemic. Children from Raw houses did not have the opportunity to study online because of their parents’ inability to afford smart devices. They deprived of quality education as their families had mired in poverty because of reduced income. Their intellectual creativity had hampered. This study concludes that lockdown had more negative effects on children in school closures. Urban children spent long periods of their childhood in confined situation which hindered their proper socialization. These findings may help to formulate effective policies at take necessary steps for children during any subsequent epidemic.