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As the world goes through one of the worst health crises in modern history, severely affecting the global economy and threatening to push millions of people to the brink of starvation, women’s crucial role in economic growth has come to the fore. Many experts have opined that women’s resilience during times of crisis could help the world realise sustainable recovery and have sought the governments to empower them with opportunities, space and safety to fulfil their potential as individuals and as major contributors of global workforce. The Covid-19 crisis has hit women, who remain marginalised in many spheres including economy, harder than their male counterparts as millions of them work in informal sector. Despite being burdened by gender-based labour market disadvantages and affected by job loss, women have taken on the current crisis head-on, reminding the world once again that utilising their full potential is vital to getting out of this economic downturn. Amid such praises and acknowledgements, the future of millions of women, especially the poor and the marginalised could be jeopardised and their rights compromised. This is because women are usually more vulnerable to disasters. Sadly, this trend is becoming visible in most societies across the world in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak despite big talks on gender equality.
In India, the pandemic has hit women harder- from increase in domestic violence to education. The recently held National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) has indicated that many Indian girls may have been deprived of the opportunity to become doctors amid the pandemic. According to the data provided by NTA, girls have being consistently performing well in the NEET exam over the last few years. In 2017, 616772 female candidates appeared for NEET out of the 641839 registered, outnumbering male candidates (497043 registered, 473305 appeared). The trend continued in 2018 and 2019 as well but this year showed a sharp fall in the number of girls who appeared for the said entrance examination. Out of the 880843 girl candidates who registered for NEET 2020, only 748866 could write it. The total number of candidates, who appeared for the prestigious exam, fell from 92.85% in 2019 to 85.57% this year in the wake Covid-19 outbreak which delayed the exam by more than four months. The pandemic has taken a toll on the student community in general. But again, girls were affected more as only about 85% of the registered candidates could actually write the exam against 93% in 2019, while the attendance rate of boys this year was 86% against 92% in 2019.
This disproportionate decrease in the number of candidates who appeared for the prestigious entrance exam this year is a matter of worry. It could be just a small portion of the big problem that awaits humanity and not just women. This possible impending crisis needs to be nipped in the bud, and if unchecked the consequences will have a far-reaching effect on our society; even worse than the pandemic. The world can’t let the present crisis undo the little gains and progress achieved towards gender equality over several decades. Governments should make concerted efforts to ensure that women are not deprived of their rights, including education. We should also not forget that gender equality begins at home.