Challenges for Post-COVID Education

These last two years will leave indelible memories in the minds of most students and teachers. They have been forced to adapt, to redouble their efforts and creativity, and to take on new responsibilities.

Education had not experienced such a crisis for a century. According to the World Bank, “Of those of primary and secondary school age, 258 million children were out of school and the learning poverty rate in low- and middle-income countries were 53%. This means that more than half of 10-year-olds could not read or understand simple text. In addition, in sub-Saharan Africa, that figure was closer to 90%.” [1].

This heavy observation is a direct consequence of the pandemic that we have just experienced. The health crisis has in particular aggravated inequalities (already existing) in terms of food and health. In addition, with the switch to fully online education, parents were on the front line and had to ensure the continuation of school learning, the well-being and health of their child. This situation has been very complicated for a large number of families, particularly for the most vulnerable and large families.

The school dropout has increased markedly during the pandemic. The World Bank explains that “an entire generation could see their lifetime income cut by an estimated $10 trillion, or the equivalent of 10% of global GDP. This will push countries further away from their learning poverty targets, which are expected to rise significantly to 63%” [1].

The European Parliament study, entitled “Study for the CULT Committee – Education and young people in post-COVID-19 Europe – consequences of the crisis and policy recommendations,” shows the importance of establishing resilient national systems.

Here are the problems encountered during the epidemic period and the recommendations [2]:

Conclusions	Problems	Recommendations
Support for collaborative decision-making and crisis management	Insufficient cooperation and lack of reflection	Establish a coordinated system to collaborate and cooperate with stakeholders
Improving the quality and accessibility of education	Lack of tools available for online teaching Lack of knowledge regarding the use of digital technologies Lack of solutions for courses in which online learning is not possible	Invest in technology and innovation infrastructure Organize training on digital technologies Creation of a platform to effectively combine online and offline teaching
Support for young people, students and families	Low interest in social-emotional well-being and safety of learning spaces Lack of collaboration between the school and the families	Promote mental health Encourage exchanges between the school and the families
Guaranteed effective funding and the importance of digitization	Numeric fraction Insufficient level of digital knowledge	Promote the development of an effective digital educational ecosystem

 

The decisions we make today will have long-term consequences for education. This is why it is important to learn from and support the solutions brought by schools (management and teachers), students and communities. They are the only ones to have experienced this epidemic situation in schools. They have been at the heart of the various problems encountered in education. Let’s listen to them and act together to prevent a second health epidemic from destabilizing education once again. Investing in education means thinking about the world of tomorrow.

 

Sources :

[1] WORLD BANK (2021). Face aux conséquences de la COVID-19 sur l’éducation, il faut agir vite et efficacement.  Available HERE

 

[2] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (2021). L’éducation et les jeunes dans l’Europe post-COVID-19 – conséquences de la crise et recommandations politiques. Available HERE

 

[3] RTBF (2021). Crise sanitaire et enseignement : le décrochage scolaire en nette augmentation l’année dernière.  Available HERE

 

[4] UNESCO (2020). L’éducation dans un monde post-Covid : Neuf idées pour l’action publique. Les futurs de l’éducation. Available HERE