COVID-19 School Closures Fueled Big Learning Losses (News and Research 293)

COVID-19 school closures fueled big learning losses, especially for the disadvantaged

Almost 1.6 billion students across the world were affected by school closured because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even short disruptions in a child’s schooling have significant negative effects on their learning and can be long-lasting. These losses may translate to greater long-term impacts, with the burden falling heaviest on the disadvantaged. While some countries managed to limit the losses, recent research on the actual impact of COVID-19 on learning progress shows that school closures frequently have a large, persistent, and unequal effect on learning . Online education is an imperfect substitute for in-person learning, particularly for children from low-income families. Early systematic reviews based on limited data from high-income countries suggest large learning losses and increased learning inequality. In our recent paper, we examined 35 rigorous studies from 20 countries which reveal three key issues: 

  1. Most studies (32) find evidence of learning loss 
  2. The studies consistently find different levels of learning loss by student socio-economic status
  3. The longer the schools remained closed, the greater were the learning losses 

Bishkek Human Development Forum| May 11, 2022 | Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

Learning Losses from COVID-19 School Closures to Affect Future Generations, Warns the World Bank | Learning losses from COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures will be felt for decades to come. This is the forecast of the experts who took part in the discussion of COVID-19 implications for education at the Education Transformation in Central Asia roundtable in Almaty on May 6. Harry Patrinos, the Practice Manager for Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank’s Education Global Practice presented the grim figures at the roundtable. Close to 90 percent of educational institutions worldwide were closed in 2020—2021 during lockdowns, and 1.65 billion students were affected. How will this impact their future and the future of their countries?

Minister of Education meets with World Bank representatives, collaboration on digitalization and technology in education | ata.gov.al | Albania’s Minister of Education and Sports, Evis Kushi, met with Emanuel Salinas and Nalin Jena, senior representatives of the World Bank in Albania. The meeting, according to Minister Kushi, was about cooperation in the field of digitalization and use of technology in education. “It was a pleasure to meet Emanuel Salinas and Nalin Jena, senior representatives of the World Bank in Albania, with whom we talked about further strengthening our cooperation in the field of digitalization and the use of technology in education, areas which help build a sustainable education system and increase efficiency in schools “, she said. Kushi thanked them for their commitment to further bilateral cooperation in terms of enhanced early childhood care, which is the starting point for quality development among children.

Enrollment has begun at the 11 summer schools for students organized by UAIC through the ROSE project | Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (UAIC) organizes, between July 11-24, 2022, 11 free summer schools dedicated to high school students, financed from the Secondary Education Project (ROSE), by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)

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Event

Education Impacts of the Covid-19 School Closures | Mitigating the Learning Losses Caused by the COVID-19 School Closures | Conference jointly organized by World Bank and IDEA at CERGE-EI | 21 June 2022, 13:00 – 18:00 (Central European Summer Time – UTC +2) | Prague, CERGE-EI (The Schebek Palace, Politických vězňů 7, Prague 1) | Format: Hybrid: online and in-person | Register Now | The objective of this conference is to document the size and determinants of the learning loss brought about by school closures, identify policy options to reverse these losses, and setting the bases of a more resilient education system. The Conference is divided into three parts: (1) An overview of the pre-pandemic global learning crisis and the mechanisms through which this was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) The elements of a “Learning Recovery Plan” based on recent evidence of interventions that have proven to be effective to improve learning, particularly among disadvantaged students; and (3) Lessons that can be drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic in the road towards the construction of a more resilient, efficient, and equitable education system. The Conference will be concluded by a panel summarizing a call to action. (Confirmed speakers: Daniel Münich (IDEA at CERGE-EI), Nuno Crato (University of Lisbon), Maciej Jakubowski (University of Warsaw), Gunda Tire (Finland), Lenora Chu (Christian Science Monitor), Lucas Gortazar (EsadeEcPol), Vaclav Korbel (IDEA at CERGE-EI). Thierry Rocher (Ministère de l’éducation nationale and Université Paris X Nanterre), Hjalte Meilvang (Ministry of Education, Denmark), Rafael de Hoyos, Harry Patrinos (World Bank).