Even before COVID-19, the world was facing an educational crisis highlighted by the difficulties in achieving SDG4. According to the World Bank, around 53% of young people in low-and middle-income countries live in “learning poverty”. The closure of schools, a measure taken everywhere in many countries to facilitate ‘physical distancing’ and reduce the risk of contamination, is likely to worsen this crisis in the coming times and make it impossible to reach the goal of halving this learning poverty by 2030. Of the 1.6 billion children and young people who have been confined to their homes, many are likely to be unable to catch up, or worse, won’t return to schoolat all. The world’s governments must therefore continue to put in place systems to ensure educational continuity and ways to get back to school as soon as possible, and international cooperation, including through multilateral institutions such as UNESCO and UNICEF, must support these countries and their young people.
This 12th note from the COVID-19 Observatory highlights their analysis of the situation, and proposes actions to be taken in the face of this rather demoralizing diagnosis.