This progress is being threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, as schoolchildren in early childhood education and the early grades, especially from low- and middle-income countries, are the most affected by education disruption. The participation rate in organized learning one year before the official primary entry age rose steadily in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, from 69 per cent in 2010 to 75 per cent in 2020 but with considerable variation between countries (with the rate ranging from a figure as low as 13 per cent to nearly 100 per cent). Early indications from low-income countries based on phone surveys point to a small decline in attendance upon a return to school but a larger increase in repetition, which may increase dropout rates in coming years.ĭata from 73 (mostly low- and middle-income) countries for the period of 2013-2021, indicate that about 7 in 10 children 3 and 4 years of age are developmentally on track, with no significant differences by child’s sex. It is too early to predict the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on completion. The proportion of young people completing upper secondary school increased from 54 per cent in 2015 to 58 per cent in 2020, with completion slowing down relative to progress in the preceding five-year period. School closures have affected girls, children from disadvantaged backgrounds, those living in rural areas, children with disabilities and children from ethnic minorities more than their peers. This generation of children could lose a combined total of $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value. It is estimated that 147 million children missed more than half of their in-class instruction over the past two years.
School closures brought on by the pandemic have had devastating consequences for children’s learning and well-being. Most education systems in the world have been severely affected by education disruptions and have faced unprecedented challenges.
The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a global education crisis.