Jakia Akter was a ninth-grader at Rayerbazar Fulkoli School. Her father, a shopkeeper, had made huge losses due to Covid-19. This ultimately led to her joining a factory to support her family.
Covid-19 has taken a heavy toll on privately run primary schools, resulting in permanent closure of 14,111 of the institutions just in one year as they failed to bear the operational costs, says a government report.