Education has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic with 1.53 billion learners out of school and school closure in 184 countries, impacting 87.6% of the world’s total enrolled learners. Drop-out rates across the globe are likely to rise as a result of this massive disruption to access to education. What are the biggest consequences and also what could be the solutions? Check out some insights from several international education experts.
What will the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on education be for developing countries?
“During the COVID-19 outbreak, when all human activities moved from a physical to a virtual phase, Western Balkan countries (WB6) have seen tremendous success with online learning platforms. The way forward was to promote remote learning and the use of online learning platforms to continue supporting students to gain access to the necessary equipment for remote learning and to provide teachers with digital learning opportunities on how to teach online, to share their resources and to give and receive feedback. A structural challenge of some significance is the fact that two-thirds of people with a higher education level have no previous experience with teleworking, only about one third of individuals aged 25-64 with higher formal education have worked from home at least once in 2018, and only one-fifth have used the internet to work from home.”
“The continuing, pandemic crisis threatens the future of learners and impacts upon human capital in the developing world. An extra day of school closure and limited access to electricity, ICT facilities and internet connectivity will widen the circle of exclusion. Utilization of technology has influenced policy choices and many educational institutions have put remote learning at the center of their operations. Countries in the developing world had made great strides towards improved access to basic education. For some, realization of the SDG goal 4 regarding education to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all is far-fetched although access to education has improved particularly in Somalia.”
“In particular, developing countries are very much lacking in terms of technology and IT. The COVID-19 will cause a major and likely unequal interruption to learning as only a certain class of children in urban areas has adopted digital learning while rural areas are completely out of the picture, there have been disruptions to internal evaluations and the cancellation of public assessments or their substitution by a substandard alternative. The disruption is felt by many families around the world – home schooling has come as an immense surprise to parents’ competence, and children’s social lives and learning ability have been affected. This will also cause a lot of school dropouts. Teaching is moving online, on an untested and unparalleled scale.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the well-documented educational challenges in developing countries namely inequality, poor access, exclusion of disadvantaged groups, poorly trained teachers, and funding. Indeed, the nascent online instructional delivery in developing countries, wherever possible, has become the panacea during this health crisis. It is now more apparent that there is an enormous digital skills deficiency in the current workforce education system, for example, and these digital competencies are equally needed in different occupations. As a consequence, of these digital skills deficiencies, among other things, there is the need to reverse existing digital skills education policies, retrain the teachers on various aspects of digital education relative to their teaching subject, and providing the relevant instructional materials for online instructional delivery.”
“It’s a common reality that, in most developing countries, formal learning and teaching has literally stopped with only a few cases of limited virtual formal e-learning where institutions and learners have the capacity and resources required. As a result, the governments of developing countries will have to find ways to recover the lost time or catch up to ensure that set curriculum objectives are met without compromising both local and global learning and teaching standards.”
“In some developing countries such as Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, the educational authorities have recommended distance education (ICT education) but this seems ineffective, especially in rural areas where populations do not have adequate equipment (internet, radio, television). Given this situation, the 2019-2020 school year has ended in countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, etc. and validated with the marks from the first two trimesters. Thus, the decline in the quality of education, the number of out of school children and inequalities in access to education are only increasing which will disrupt progress towards the Sustainable Development (SDG 4) aiming for access for all to quality education.”
“Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic will bring about not only an increased drop-out rate but also a decline in the quality of education. Developing countries have limited internet access and few teachers have the necessary skills and experience to teach online not to mention learners who simply do not have PCs and internet access at home.”
What should the international community do to address the situation?
“The international community may consider shortening the vacation break or extending the school term in the short-term to make up for the gap in students’ education as a result of COVID-19. This is also an opportunity for the international community to step up and provide support to poorer students in developing countries as they will be the ones most affected. (1) Remove the burden from students of financing their education at all levels; (2) Free laptop and training to that group of students to assist with online research and with their education generally, whether carried out virtually or in physical learning spaces. (3) Emphasis on alternative education that will involve students as architects of their own learning and reduce drop-out rates. While online learning appears to be the new norm moving forward, it is unlikely to replace the classroom completely because of the practical nature of some of the courses that students undertake.”
“In my opinion, as a university professor and as a mother, what we have learned from COVID-19 is that preparedness is crucial. I believe that countries have to devise a response plan which should aim to increase access to the internet in the country; to prepare more innovative and refined protocols for distance learning; to design elaborate economic programs and support for students to minimize lost time and to avoid long term negative impacts. The international community and governments have to offer support and find all the options available.”
“The challenge will be how to measure the effectiveness of online learning. There is a lot of “education” that goes on within the network of learners in a classroom that goes beyond traditional lectures/laboratories. When I prepare a lecture, I have specific objectives and hopefully some outcomes that help the students with the subject matter. I can measure that through conversation, dialog and testing with the students. However, often the conversation will lead us away from my goal, but still have a great learning opportunity for the students. This is what I think is lost with online learning. If we can solve that problem, then I believe that the international community could “test” the concept of an online learning school or academy in a developing nation, but with instructors from around the world who are teaching classes already.”
“The lack of digital literacy resources would be a barrier for most students in developing countries. The major part of developing countries consists of rural areas and these areas really need the attention of local and international bodies. The COVID-19 pandemic makes us realize the importance of digital technology and its benefits. We cannot ignore the need for necessities such as electricity, telecommunication facilities etc. The international community can help developing countries various ways such as to build digital infrastructure, to create connectivity in schools, to provide laptops, tablets and other equipment, to ensure a high quality of education and training and to implement digitally signed qualifications.”
“Many governments in developing countries will need the support of the international community both in the short and the long term. Short term support is needed to scale up the most basic radio and television programming that most nations have adopted. These offer the potential to reach a greater number of students and educators even in the most vulnerable and remote communities besides their ease of use. Ensuring that all children can access a radio and or television will go a long way to address the accessibility gaps caused by the pandemic. Mid to longer term support can focus on more expensive and advanced technologies which would facilitate the challenge of quality after access has been addressed.”
“Countries will need to hire more teachers and these teachers will need continuous in-service training to equip them with the skills to address emerging needs among learners. Countries will need to support poor families and those with children with disabilities with food and cash contributions and ensure that their children attend school. Open and non-formal education programs will be required to provide skills for those who will drop out of the formal education system. Similar programs for parents and caregivers should be provided through the media and especially through the local radio and television stations to provide counselling, advise people about the challenges of school closures on education and give them tips on how to cope.”
“It is important for the international community to provide both technical and financial support to the education ministries and agencies of these countries to develop educational content for radio and television. This, I believe, is the best approach to reach a high number of students and keep them engaged. There is research conducted by UNICEF shows that television and radio have the potential to reach 50% of school-age children in developing countries.”
“The international community should be concentrating in one goal: to foster the right to education for all students and implement strategies on the ground to make sure they are reintegrated into the educational systems in the post-pandemic period. For instance, when schools reopen, it is critical that basic non-educational services are restored and even expanded (e.g. health support, psychological support, hygiene facilities) to help attract the most vulnerable students back to school. In addition, policy reform to expand equitable access and funding schemes to fasten the recovery phase are pressing. It is essential to reach the most marginalized like out-of-school students, displaced children, and those from minority groups. We have also to consider the following: the COVID-19 pandemic showed us that the digitally excluded in the education system are many, and include not only students but also teachers, who might not have appropriate access to household computers and internet. This means that access to technologies and digital tools must be facilitated to all the educational community, so we don’t miss the progress many countries have made in recent years.”
Check out more than 150 job opportunities in Education sector here.
