COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the learning crisis. How can we ensure quality education during this pandemic.
Crave HubbBud
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Almost six years into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but the world is still far away from ensuring a quality education for all by 2030.
As COVID-19 cases rise and fall many education systems around the world are reopening fully, partially, or in a hybrid format, leaving millions of children to face a radically transformed educational experience.
Here are some insights into supporting immediate and long-term goals for educating children.
Support caregivers at home to help children learn while schools are closed.
Many parents or caregivers, especially with young children, have taken on new roles to help with at-home learning. To support them and remote education efforts, many LMICs have used SMS, phone calls, and other widely accessible, affordable, and low-technology methods of information delivery. While such methods are imperfect substitutes for schooling, research suggests they can help engage parents in their child’s education and contribute to learning, perhaps even after schools reopen. Other governments and organizations in areas where internet access is limited are also experimenting with radio and TV to support parents and augment student learning.
As schools reopen, educators should use low-stakes assessments to identify learning gaps.
Rather than jumping straight into grade-level curriculum, primary schools in LMICs should quickly assess learning levels to understand what children know (or don’t) and devise strategic responses. They can do so by using simple tools to frequently assess students, rather than focusing solely on high-stakes exams, which may significantly influence a child’s future.
Tailor children’s instruction to help them master foundational skills once learning gaps are identified.
Given low learning levels before the pandemic and recent learning loss due to school disruptions, it is important to focus on basic skills as schools reopen to ensure children maintain and build a foundation for a lifetime of learning. Decades of research also shows that tailoring instruction to children’s’ education levels increases learning.
As countries rebuild and reinvent themselves in response to COVID-19, there is an opportunity to accelerate the thinking on how to best support quality education for all.