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Torn safety nets: How COVID-19 has exposed huge inequalities in global education
Jun 5, 2020
In 2018, 258 million children of primary and secondary school age were out of school. Now, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 1.2 billion children find themselves out of school, at least physically.
In both the developed and developing worlds, schools have been more than just places of learning; policy designs have moulded them into safety nets for children. However, the present pandemic has torn those structures apart and revealed gaping inequities. And now, with the need to maintain physical distancing, schools are shut in 146 countries. For many children, this vital safety net has disappeared.
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Learning losses
The most obvious impact of school closures has been on student learning. Unfortunately, even before this public health crisis, the developing world was already experiencing a learning crisis. Fifty-three percent of children in low- and middle- income countries cannot read and understand a basic text at age 10. Now, as learning switches to remote platforms, this crisis is not only likely to exacerbate but also deepen along the divides between those advantaged to access them and those disadvantaged who cannot.
About 65% of lower-middle income countries and less than 25% of low income countries have been able to set up remote learning platforms. Moreover, only 36% of residents of lower-middle income countries have access to the internet which raises further concerns regarding the reach of remote learning. Even among those who are able to access these platforms, we know little about their efficacy or ability to cater to the needs of differently-abled learners, especially in these strained times.
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