Learning losses during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Understanding and addressing increased learning disparities

Abstract

A growing body of evidence has revealed the negative effects of COVID‐19‐induced school closures on learning, with the largest losses often observed among the most vulnerable children. Learning disparities widened due to six potential reasons related to marginalized children, who (a) were already behind even before the pandemic, (b) were more likely to experience longer school closures, (c) had limited access to and support on remote learning, (d) were less likely to receive supervision and learning support at home, (e) face greater obstacles to return to school, and (f) return to school systems that are less able to provide for their needs. To ensure all children—especially the most vulnerable—can catch up on missed learning, five urgent actions are needed for a RAPID learning recovery and acceleration: (a) Reach every child and keep them in school, (b) Assess learning levels regularly, (c) Prioritize teaching the fundamentals, (d) Increase the efficiency of instruction, and (e) Develop psychosocial health and wellbeing. Implementation of RAPID actions must be strengthened and supported by enabling systems to address the widening disparities in learning. COVID‐induced school closures have disproportionately affected the most vulnerable children. Pre‐existing learning disparities have widened as marginalized children often experience multiple compounding barriers to education. The RAPID Framework sums up five key actions to recover learning and narrow disparities. Countries will need to implement RAPID policy actions at scale and ensure enabling systems are in place to support long‐term education transformation.