Teenagers Moumita Munda and Manisha Mondal of Hingalganj block in North 24-Parganas won’t go to school when classes resume on November 16 after a gap of 20 months owing to the pandemic.

They would have left home to work as domestic workers outside Bengal.

The girls aged between 18 and 19 have no option left but to quit studies to overcome the financial hardship they have been facing for over the past 18 months owing to the pandemic-induced lockdowns and the disastrous consequences of cyclones Amphan and Yaas.

They are not the only ones. Many others in Hingalganj, Hasnabad, Haroa and other areas of the Sunderbans have dropped out of school and moved outside Bengal to work as domestic helps or cooks.

Many others are preparing to take up jobs soon since most want to avoid an early marriage, which many families in rural Bengal see as a “solution” against poverty. These girls, however, want to fight poverty by taking up jobs.

Till the pandemic struck, Manisha used to study at ABS Madanmohan Vidyapith at Amberia village in Hingalganj. The Class X dropout said: “During the last 18 months our family income has taken a hit. My elder sister used to give private tuitions, my mother worked as a domestic help. With the onset of Covid-19, students have stopped coming for tuitions. My mother also lost her job. Getting a job was the only option.”

“With help from my friends working outside the state, I got the job of a domestic help in Kerala. I hope to save some money for my family.”

Moumita’s difficulties multiplied after her father, the family’s sole breadwinner, died of Covid a few months ago. Her mother, a renal patient, is trying to support the family as a domestic help. Her sister is specially-abled. “Continuing with school is a luxury for me,” Moumita said.

Sources said by working as domestic maids outside Bengal, girls earn anything around Rs 10,000 per month.