The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery
Context
A joint report by UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank, ‘The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery’,
Key points
- It had been estimated that in the first 21 months of the pandemic, schools in countries around the world were either partially or fully closed for an average of 224 days.
- Schools in India had cumulatively closed for physical classes for around 570 days to 600 days — one of the longest school closures in the world.
- The global disruption to education caused by the COVD-19 pandemic is not parallel, and the effects on learning are severe.
- The crisis brought education systems across the world to a halt, with school closures affecting more than 1.6 billion learners.
- Even beforeCOVID-19 hit, the world was already experiencing a learning crisis.
- 258 million primary- and secondary-school age children and youth were out of school.
- 53 per cent of all ten-year-old children in low- and middle-income countries were experiencing learning poverty, meaning that they were unable to read and understand a simple age-appropriate text at the age of 10.
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Report Analysis
This report spotlights how COVID-19 has deepened the education crisis and charts a course for creating more resilient education systems for the future.
High- and low-income countries have fewer students in both absolute and relative terms in either fully closed or partially open systems than do middle-income countries.
The average learning loss standardized by the length of the school closure was close to -100%, with a standard deviation of 74.
Latin America and South Asia have more students in both absolute and relative terms in either fully closed or partially open systems than do Europe or Sub-Saharan Africa.
The average learning loss standardized by the length of the school closure was close to -43%, with a standard deviation of 30.
The digital divide became glaringly evident
• At least 463 million children were not reached by digital and broadcast remote learning programs
• 3 out of 4 students not reached came from rural areas and/or poor households
• Lower-income countries had higher shares of students unable to access remote learning than higher-income countries.
• At least 463 million children were not reached by digital and broadcast remote learning programs
• 3 out of 4 students not reached came from rural areas and/or poor households
• Lower-income countries had higher shares of students unable to access remote learning than higher-income countries.
Many countries adopted technological solutions ill-suited to their contexts
• Online platforms were the most common remote learning strategy globally
• Yet 1.3 billion school-age children lack internet access at home
• In sub-Saharan Africa, only 47% of the population has electricity, posing a barrier to technology-enabled learning
• Countries with longer school closures had lower rates of school-aged children with internet connection at home.
Stimulus packages did not prioritize education
- Countries have deployed massive stimulus packages in response to the health crisis, but limited resources have been allocated to the education and training sector.
There were large regional disparities: in Africa, Asia, and Latin America & the Caribbean, less than 1% went to education, compared to nearly 4% in Europe and North America.
There were large disparities by income level: on average, countries allocated 3% to education; in low- and lower-middle-income countries, that figure is less than 1%.
Much more funding is needed for immediate learning recovery, let alone for the transformed education that the world’s children and youth deserve and need.
Countries must measure learning
Change
Useful to identify learning losses. understand the potential learning inequalities caused by the
pandemic. A complex task, with good learning data from before the pandemic needed.
pandemic. A complex task, with good learning data from before the pandemic needed.
Level
Useful to identify the learning gaps, and understand students’ learning levels as they return to school. Simpler requirements; do not need pre-existing learning data.
Useful to identify the learning gaps, and understand students’ learning levels as they return to school. Simpler requirements; do not need pre-existing learning data.
Three policy levers to accelerate learning recovery
Level -1 Consolidating the Curriculum
Level-2 Extending instructional time
Level -3 Improving the efficiency of learning
