Conclusions and Implications

Abstract

This chapter concludes the book, drawing on the preceding chapters to identify overarching themes that summarize the nature of the educational impact of COVID-19. It describes the educational loss that was created by the pandemic, particularly for disadvantaged students and more so in countries with lower levels of per capita income. Those losses were the result of impacts of the pandemic on poverty and household conditions, as well as the result of insufficient capacity of remote instruction to adequately sustain opportunity to learn. The efforts to maintain educational opportunity and to close equity gaps during the pandemic in some countries are also discussed, in the context of the role of educational inequality before the pandemic and of initial conditions to support remote instruction. The chapter examines also some of the silver linings resulting from the pandemic in the education sector, such as the greater recognition of the importance of schools, and of in person schooling, and the necessity to support the emotional and social development of students, in addition to their cognitive development. The chapter concludes discussing the challenges ahead created by the pandemic and underscores the urgency of maintaining the priority of education and remediating those learning losses during the remaining period of the pandemic and in the immediate aftermath, to mitigate the likely increase in poverty and social inequality that would result from the educational losses during COVID-19.