Reopening schools must remain a top and urgent priority globally: Report

The present generation of students risks losing USD 17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or about 14 percent of today’s global GDP, as a result of COVID-19-related school closures, according to a new report prepared by the World Bank in collaboration with UNESCO and UNICEF.

“The COVID-19 crisis brought education systems across the world to a halt. Now, 21 months later, schools remain closed for millions of children, and others may never return to school. The loss of learning that many children are experiencing is morally unacceptable. And the potential increase of learning poverty might have a devastating impact on future productivity, earnings, and wellbeing for this generation of children and youth, their families and the world’s economies,” said Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Global Director for Education.

“More than 200 million learners live in low and lower-middle income countries that are unprepared to deploy remote learning during emergency school closures. Reopening schools must remain a top and urgent priority globally to stem and reverse learning losses. Countries should put in place learning recovery programs with the objective of assuring that students of this generation attain at least the same competencies of the previous generation,” the report titled ‘State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery report’ said.