[VIDEO] The Impact of COVID-19 and Government Lockdown on Children’s Schooling, Time Use and Marriage Timing in Rural Bangladesh

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the poor in developing countries is increasingly becoming a matter of concern. The poor seem more vulnerable to the COVID-19 infection given a congested and unhygienic environment, and its insufficient treatment in a poor medical system. Not only these direct health impacts, they may be more vulnerable to the indirect negative impacts, which were generated by the lockdown and school closure, including job loss, return migration and suspension of remittances, and deprivation of children’s learning opportunities.

Nele Warrinnier

Dr. Warrinnier is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at the School of Economics and Finance in Queen Mary University of London. Her research is focused on evaluating labor market policies and political economy topics using empirical methods from the field of Applied Micro-Economics and Machine Learning. Her recent research focuses on impact evaluation of human capital policies and the process of cognitive and non-cognitive skill formation.

Abu Shonchoy

Dr. Shonchoy is an applied economist with interests in issues of global development. He has a wide range of experience in conducting field research and experiments in South Asia and West Africa. His papers appeared in peer-reviewed international journals including the Journal of Public Economics, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Journal of Development Economics, World Bank Economic Review, and World Development to name a few. Recently he published a book titled “Seasonality and Micro-credit” from Springer.

S D Rasika Perera

S D Rasika Perera is the Project Director of the Science and Technology Human Resource Development Project, an ADB-supported project in Sri Lanka. Concurrent with this role, he works with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Open University of Sri Lanka. Before joining the project, he was the director general of the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission of Sri Lanka. Mr. Perera holds degrees in master of science, master of philosophy, and doctorate in philosophy in mechanical engineering, with his PhD obtained from the Sheffield Hallam University UK.