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The coronavirus has closed schools for more than a billion children around the world. Because the vast majority have not been able to transition to online education, school closings have widened the gap between how much rich children learn and poor children.
The challenges are greatest in the poorest countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, about one in ten students has a computer at home and more than half live in homes without electricity. Unreliable internet connections, limited access to mobile devices, and high costs put e-learning even further out of reach.
Even before COVID-19, developing countries faced a serious education crisis. Today, 53 percent children’s in low- and middle-income countries I can’t read or understand a simple history at age ten. In the poorest countries, this figure reaches 80 percent. As school closings drag on, this crisis risks turning into a catastrophe.
Existing disparities will worsen as the pandemic weakens economies. Many developing countries will post negative growth rates in 2020 for the first time in more than two decades. COVID-19 could push as many as 100 million more people in extreme poverty, increasing the risk that children will be put to work instead of being allowed to continue their studies. The economic shock could force 24 million children out of school forever, and it will have long-term effects even on those who return. The World Bank estimates that the learning already lost as a result of five months of school closures will cost this generation $ 10 trillion in lifetime earnings.
Girls are especially vulnerable. When schools in Sierra Leone closed for eight months in 2014-15 to stop the spread of Ebola, girls experienced higher dropout rates as a result of teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, and sexual abuse. Over the next decade, as many as 13 million more girls Struggling parents can force you to marry early.
As pandemic-related school closures can be long-lasting or recurring, policymakers must radically rethink how to deliver education for all children to learn. If significant steps are not taken to place the most marginalized children at the center of our educational systems, the world risks losing an entire generation to illiteracy, ignorance and dependency.
Today, Sierra Leone is using the lessons learned during the Ebola crisis to provide inclusive remote learning. Because only 13 percent of the nation’s homes are connected to the Internet, radio and television stations are broadcasting lessons. Children living in offline households have received printed learning materials and the government has been sending food to the homes of more than 6,000 children who normally eat their main meal at school. In addition, more than 143,000 primary school students who returned to school in preparation for their national exam on August 3 received rice to take home.
As members of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Sierra Leone and other countries affected by Ebola have been sharing their experiences with other developing countries. And with the support of the GPE COVID-19 response fund, governments are implementing distance education solutions that target the most marginalized.
In Guinea, for example, regular education programming is peppered with messages aimed at preventing gender-based violence and promoting girls’ education. Zambian authorities are distributing solar-powered radios so that children living in homes without electricity can tune in to lessons, while visually impaired students in Tanzania have received Braille workbooks. And in Myanmar, teachers are learning to provide psychosocial support and counseling to students experiencing stress or trauma.
But we cannot stop at inclusive distance education. When schools reopen, developing countries must remake their education systems to break down deep-seated inequalities, which extend well beyond schooling, rather than perpetuate them.
To ensure that the poorest girls have the same educational opportunities as the richest boys, governments must eliminate school fees, provide meals and cover expenses so that lower-income families can keep their children in school. Children in rural areas, especially girls, need transportation to get to their classrooms safely. Pregnant girls and young mothers need options that allow them to return to school and continue their education. And teachers need training and support for all their students to learn.
Although governments are facing the deepest economic recession in living memory, they must remember that an educated population will likely be their most valuable resource as their countries recover from the pandemic and face future challenges. In July, a coalition of international and local organizations launched the #SaveOurFuture campaign to highlight how damage to education systems will hamper progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Governments must protect education budgets to mitigate the long-term effects of the pandemic on children. The international community must support them by sustaining aid for education and debt relief so that poorer countries can invest in their children’s futures rather than cutting spending on education when it is most needed. Unless we act now, the overall education financing gap for low- and low-income countries, currently $ 148 billion per year, could increase by 30 percent as a result of the crisis.
Radical inclusion is not easy, but it is possible. As the world emerges from the pandemic, we must focus on transforming school systems and breaking down the barriers that prevent us from providing a quality education for all children.
Editor’s Note: Alice Albright is CEO of the Global Partnership for Education. David Moinina Sengeh, Minister for Basic and Higher Secondary Education and Director of Innovation for Sierra Leone, is a member of the board of directors of the Global Partnership for Education. The article is provided to The Reporter by Project Syndicate – the world’s leading source for original opinion comments. Project Syndicate provided inclusive perspectives on our changing world from those who are shaping politics, economics, science, and culture. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Reporter.
Contributed by Alice Albright and David Moinina Sengeh
