Only half of schools worldwide resumed classroom learning: Report

Only half of the schools across the world have switched to physical teaching while around 34% schools are relying on blended learning, according to the Covid-19 Global Education Recovery Tracker, which has been jointly created by Johns Hopkins University, the World Bank, and UNICEF.  

“To promote education recovery, teachers should be prioritised for vaccination where possible, while recognising that there are ways to reopen safely without vaccination through adequate safety measures,” said a report by the World Bank’s Education team.

“Given that schools that have reopened around the world have been able to effectively curtail transmission within schools with simple and relatively cheap infection control strategies like masking, ventilation, and physical distancing, and considering that widespread vaccination coverage in most countries is not expected for many months, keeping schools closed until all staff can be vaccinated results in very little benefit in terms of reduced risk of transmission but potentially generates substantial costs for children,” it said.