New joint report looks at national education responses
to COVID-19 including lost learning; remote learning support for students,
parents and teachers; school reopening plans; health protocols; and financing
Paris/New York/Washington D.C. 29 October – Schoolchildren
in low-and lower-middle-income countries have already lost nearly four months
of schooling since the start of the pandemic, compared to six weeks of loss in
high-income countries, according to a new report published today by UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank.
The pandemic will notch up the funding gap for
education in low and middle-income countries. By making the right investment
choices now, rather than waiting, this gap could be significantly
reduced.
Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General
for Education
“The pandemic will notch up the funding gap for
education in low and middle-income countries. By making the right investment
choices now, rather than waiting, this gap could be significantly reduced,”
said Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education. “At
the Global Education Meeting convened by UNESCO with Ghana, Norway and the UK
on 22 October , some 15 heads of state and government, close to 70 education
ministers and development partners committed to protect education funding and
act to safely reopen schools, support all teachers as frontline workers and
narrow the digital divide. This holds us all to account,” she concluded.
“We don’t need to look far to see the devastation the
pandemic has caused to children’s learning across the world. In low- and lower
middle income countries, this devastation is magnified as limited access to
remote learning, increased risks of budget cuts and delayed plans in reopening
have thwarted any chance of normalcy for schoolchildren,” said Robert Jenkins
UNICEF Chief of Education. “Prioritizing reopening schools and providing
much-needed catch-up classes is critical.”
Prioritizing reopening schools and providing
much-needed catch-up classes is critical.
Robert Jenkins UNICEF Chief of Education
The report compiles findings from surveys on national
education responses to COVID-19 collected by UNESCO and carried out in nearly
150 countries between June and October through funding provided by the Global
Partnership for Education (GPE) as part of their accelerated funding response
to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Schoolchildren in low- and lower-middle income
countries were the least likely to access remote learning, the least likely to
be monitored on their learning loss, the most likely to have delays to their
schools reopening and the most likely to attend schools with inadequate
resources to ensure safe operations, the report finds.
·
More
than two-thirds of countries have fully or partially reopened their schools.
However, 1 in 4 have missed their planned reopening date or not yet set a date
for reopening, most of which are low- and lower-middle-income countries.
·
Only
1 in 5 low-income countries reported that remote learnings days count as
official school days, recognizing the low-impact of remote learning measures,
compared to three-quarters of countries globally.
·
Of
79 countries which responded to questions related to financing, nearly 20 per
cent have either already experienced or anticipate decreases to their country’s
education budget for the current or next fiscal year. This compares to nearly
40 per cent among low- and lower-middle-income countries.
·
While
most countries reported that student learning is being monitored by teachers, a
quarter of low- and lower-middle-income countries are not tracking children’s
learning.
·
Half
of respondents in low-income countries reported not having adequate funds for
safety measures such as handwashing facilities, social distancing measures and
protective equipment for students and teachers, compared to 5 per cent of
high-income countries.
·
More
than 90 per cent of countries have also taken measures to support
schoolchildren at risk of being excluded from distance learning, most commonly
learners with disabilities. However, 1 in 3 of low-income countries were not
introducing any measures to support access or inclusion for those at risk of
exclusion.
·
More
than 90 per cent of high- and upper-middle-income respondents required teachers
to continue teaching during school closures, compared to less than 40 per cent
of low-income country respondents.
Other
findings include:
·
Almost
all countries included remote learning in their education response, in the form
of online platforms, TV and radio programmes and take-home packages.
·
9
in 10 countries facilitated access to online learning, most frequently through
mobile phones or offering internet access at subsidized or no cost, but the
coverage of this access was extremely varied.
·
6
in 10 countries provided materials to help guide parents in home-based
learning, while 4 in 10 countries provided psychosocial counselling to children
and caregivers during school closures. These efforts were more common
among high-income countries and in environments where resources were already
available.
·
More
than two-thirds of countries have fully or partially reopened their schools.
Around 1 in 4, however, had missed a planned reopening date or not set a date
for reopening.
Even before the pandemic, children’s learning was in
crisis. Half of 10-year-olds in middle- and low-income countries couldn’t
understand a simple written sentence. According to UNESCO, more than a quarter
of a billion children were already out of school, a number likely to increase
by at least 24 million as a result of the pandemic. Schoolchildren today
currently stand to lose $10 trillion in earnings over their working lifetime,
equal to 10 per cent of global GDP.
Despite widespread efforts, there are large
differences in countries’ capacity to provide children and youth with effective
learning.
Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Global Director for
Education
“Despite widespread efforts, there are large
differences in countries’ capacity to provide children and youth with effective
learning. And there are probably even wider differences within countries in the
educational stimulation children and youth have experienced. We were worried
about learning poverty before the pandemic and also about the inequality in
learning opportunities. Now the learning baseline is lower, but the increase in
inequality of opportunities could be catastrophic. The task of reigniting
the learning process is extremely urgent,” said Jaime Saavedra, World Bank
Global Director for Education.
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