The sudden shutdown of educational institutions worldwide, owing to the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic, has exposed and widened the educational inequality gap, as half the world is unable to adjust to a life of online and digital learning.
The Covid-19 restrictions are taking a toll particularly on low- and middle-income countries that do not have the infrastructure, resources or capacity to virtualise learning.
Some 194 countries, representing 91% of the global student population, had closed their educational facilities at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020, disrupting the learning and education of more than 1.6-billion students. Only a handful of countries kept some schools open.
A new report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) shows an exacerbation of educational exclusion during the Covid-19 pandemic, as about 40% of low- and lower-middle- income countries have not been able to support disadvantaged learners during temporary school shutdowns.
“Covid-19 thus precipitated an education crisis, fuelled by deep and multiple inequalities. While these inequalities have long existed, many were obscured in classrooms. Lockdowns and school closures suddenly brought them into sharp relief,” Unesco’s 2020 ‘Global Education Monitoring Report’ says.
As it stands, the report indicates that fewer than 10% of countries have laws that help ensure full inclusion in education, while 258-million children and youth are entirely excluded from education, with poverty the main obstacle to access.
“Almost 260-million children were already out of school and six out of ten were not learning the basics before the pandemic,” says Unesco education assistant director-general Stefania Giannini.
The school closures increased these learning inequalities almost overnight, as learning curriculums went online in a world where only half the population has access to the Internet, she explains.
Unprecedented challenges were instantly placed on governments, teachers, students and parents, with a rapid switch to new tools required to deliver lessons, distribute content, correct homework and communicate with students and their parents to ensure learning continuity.
High-income countries have capitalised on investments in education technology to mobilise online learning platforms; however, the communities able to react quickly, using strong digital infrastructure, are fortunate, says Huawei deputy chairperson Ken Hu.
“Digital technology has a huge impact on education, but not everyone has equal access to these benefits – the pandemic has made this very clear,” he states, referring to a lack of access to adequate Internet connectivity, equipment, skills and the working conditions to take advantage of available platforms.
“We have a lack of digital inclusion in education and the gap is increasing,” he warns.
The share of households with Internet access at home was 47% in developing countries and 12% in the least-developed countries in 2019, compared with 87% in developed countries, the report shows.
Learners with disabilities are at a higher risk of exclusion as many resources are not accessible for blind or deaf students even if the technology exists.
“The pandemic disproportionally threatens low- and middle-income countries as school closures bring with them high socioeconomic costs, particularly for marginalised children,” says GSMA chief marketing officer Stephanie Lynch-Habib.
Even when distance learning options are available and accessible, several conditions negatively affect disadvantaged students’ opportunity to learn, resulting in strong reliance on the support of parents and guardians with little or no education.
Further, outside of education, support mechanisms provided by schools, such as a safe haven, a social arena and access to vital goods and services, including sanitary towels and school meals, which are critical for poor households, have been interrupted.
In addition to interrupted learning, children and young people dependent on the free school meals are now suffering poor nutrition.
Households, especially those near or below the poverty line, will also need to make hard decisions about resource allocation, which may lead to withdrawing children from school, the report reveals.
There are high economic costs, where parents cannot work as they have to take care of their children, or worsened healthcare, as doctors and nurses leave work owing to childcare responsibilities, she adds.
More time at home also exposes students to domestic chores or even violence in some cases.
In addition, by increasing social isolation, the pandemic has also increased the risk of marginalised students disengaging further from education and leaving school early.
“Most children and youth have suffered a short-term direct, but hopefully temporary, loss of learning. Concern remains about more lasting effects, likely to be brought about indirectly by the recession, which will throw millions of people back into poverty,” Unesco’s study adds.
Overall, the setback on learning is expected to be considerable, although its magnitude is difficult to pin down.
Further, inadequate data means a large part of the picture is missing, says ‘Global Education Monitoring Report’ director Manos Antoninis.
“It is now established that disruptions to instructional time in the classroom can have a severe impact on a child’s ability to learn at a later stage,” says Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
“The agencies say the longer the marginalised children are out of school, the less likely they are to return. Earlier research had confirmed that children from the poorest households are already almost five times more likely to be out of primary school than those from the richest.”