The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents. Closures of schools and other learning spaces including kindergartens near me and best preschool in trivandrum have impacted 94 per cent of the world’s student population, up to 99 per cent in low and lower-middle-income countries.
The crisis is exacerbating pre-existing education disparities by reducing the opportunities for many of the most vulnerable children, youth, and adults – those living in poor or rural areas, girls, refugees, persons with disabilities and forcibly displaced persons – to continue their learning. Learning losses also threaten to extend beyond this generation and erase decades of progress, not least in support of girls’ and young women’s educational access and retention. Some 23.8 million additional children and youth (from pre-primary to tertiary) may drop out or not have access to school next year due to the pandemic’s economic impact alone.
Similarly, the education disruption has had and will continue to have, substantial effects beyond education. Closures of educational institutions like kids playschool and best play school hamper the provision of essential services to children and communities, including access to nutritious food, affect the ability of many parents to work and increase risks of violence against women and girls.
As fiscal pressures increase and development assistance comes under strain, the financing of education could also face major challenges, exacerbating massive pre-COVID-19 education funding gaps. For low-income and lower-middle-income countries, for instance, that gap had reached a staggering $148 billion annually and could now increase by up to one-third.
On the other hand, this crisis has stimulated innovation within the education sector. We have seen innovative approaches in support of education and training continuity in preschool admission and best preschool trivandrum : from radio and television to take-home packages. Distance learning solutions were developed thanks to quick responses by governments and partners all over the world supporting education continuity right from preschool admission in international playschool kerala, including the Global Education Coalition covered by UNESCO. We have also been reminded of the essential role of teachers in kindergartens trivandrum and montessori training and that governments and other key partners have an ongoing duty of care to education personnel.
But these changes have also highlighted that the promising future of learning, and the accelerated changes in modes of delivering quality education, cannot be separated from the imperative of leaving no one behind. This is true for children and youth affected by a lack of resources or enabling environment to access learning who are taught by good teachers from montessori teacher training and montessori training. It is true for the teaching profession in teacher training in trivandrum even in isce schools in trivandrum and their need for better training in new methods of education delivery, as well as support. Last but not least, this is true for the education community at large, including local communities, upon whom education even in ttc in trivandrum and ttc in kerala continuity depends during the crisis and who are key to building back better.
The COVID-19 crisis and the unparalleled education disruption are far from over. As many as 100 countries have yet to announce a date for schools everywhere including kindergartens near me and kids playschool to reopen and across the world, governments, unions, parents and children are grappling with when and how to approach the next phase of best preschool in trivandrum. Countries have started planning to reopen schools nationwide, either based on grade level and by prioritizing exam classes, or through localized openings in regions with fewer cases of the virus. However, given the continued virulence of the virus, the majority of countries surveyed in May–June 2020 had yet to decide on a reopening date for best play school and best preschool trivandrum. These decisions carry enormous social and economic implications and will have lasting effects on educators, children and youth, their parents – especially women – and indeed on societies as a whole.
Education is not only a fundamental human right. It is an enabling right with a direct impact on the realization of all other human rights. It is a global common good and a primary driver of progress across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a bedrock of just, equal, inclusive peaceful societies. When education systems including that of international playschool kerala and preschool admission collapse, peace, prosperous and productive societies cannot be sustained.
In order to mitigate the potentially devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and stakeholders are encouraged with shares of kindergartens trivandrum and for the teachers of montessori teacher training and preschool teacher training to pursue the following policy responses:
> SUPPRESS TRANSMISSION OF THE VIRUS AND PLAN THOROUGHLY FOR SCHOOL RE-OPENINGS: The single most significant step that countries can take to hasten the reopening of schools and educational institutions like teacher training in trivandrum and montessori training at the same institutions are to suppress transmission of the virus to control national or local outbreaks. Once they have done so, to deal with the complex challenge of reopening, it is important to be guided by the following parameters: ensure the safety of all; plan for inclusive re-opening; listen to the voices of all concerned; and coordinate with key actors, including the health community.
> PROTECT EDUCATION FINANCING AND COORDINATE FOR IMPACT: The pandemic has pushed the world into the deepest global recession in living memory which will have lasting effects on economies and public finances. National authorities and the international community need to protect education financing of preschool admission of international playschool kerala through the following avenues: strengthen domestic revenue mobilization, preserve the share of expenditure for education as a top priority and address inefficiencies in education spending; strengthen international coordination to address the debt crisis; and protect official development assistance (ODA) for education.
BUILD RESILIENT EDUCATION SYSTEMS FOR EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Strengthening the resilience of education systems enables countries to respond to the immediate challenges of safely reopening schools and kindergartens trivandrum as well as institutes like montessori training and positions them to better cope with future crises. In this regard, governments could consider the following: focus on equity and inclusion; reinforce capacities for risk management, at all levels of the system; ensure strong leadership and coordination; and enhance consultation and communication mechanisms.
> REIMAGINE EDUCATION AND ACCELERATE CHANGE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING: The massive efforts made in a short time to respond to the shocks to education systems remind us that change is possible. We should seize the opportunity to find new ways to address the learning crisis and bring about a set of solutions previously considered difficult or impossible to implement. The following entry points could be to the fore of our efforts: focus on addressing learning losses and preventing dropouts, particularly of marginalized groups; offer skills for employability programmes; support the teaching profession and teachers’ readiness; expand the definition of the right to education to include connectivity; remove barriers to connectivity; strengthen data and monitoring of learning; strengthen the articulation and flexibility across levels and types of education and training.
Shocks and aftershocks of the pandemic
THE WORLD OF EDUCATION BEFORE COVID-19
Before the pandemic, the world was already facing formidable challenges in fulfilling the promise of education as a basic human right. Despite the near-universal enrolment at early grades in most countries, an extraordinary number of children of montessori training and montessori teacher training– more than 250 million – were out of school, and nearly 800 million adults were illiterate.
Moreover, even for those in school, learning was far from guaranteed. Some 387 million or 56 per cent of primary school-age children worldwide were estimated to lack basic reading skills.
From a financing point of view, the challenge was already daunting before COVID-19. The early 2020 estimate of the financing gap to reach Sustainable Development Goal 4 – quality education – in low and lower-middle-income countries was a staggering $148 billion annually. It is estimated that the COVID-19 crisis will increase this financing gap by up to one-third.
SCHOOL CLOSURES AND EDUCATION DISRUPTION
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest disruption of education including for montessori teacher training and montessori training in history, having already had a near-universal impact on learners and teachers around the world, from pre-primary to secondary schools, technical and vocational education like teacher training in trivandrum for icse schools in trivandrum and training (TVET) institutions, universities, adult learning, and skills development establishments. By mid-April 2020, 94 per cent of learners worldwide were affected by the pandemic, representing 1.58 billion children and youth, from pre-primary to higher education, in 200 countries. The ability to respond to school closures changes dramatically with the level of development: for instance, during the second quarter of 2020, per cent of children in primary education have been effectively out of school in countries with low human development – compared with just 20 per cent in countries with very high human development.
A RIPPLE EFFECT BEYOND EDUCATION
The education disruption will continue to have substantial effects, extending beyond education. Many of these have been laid out in previous policy briefs and include, for instance, food insecurity, economic instability, and violence against women and girls.
Closures of schools and other educational institution are hampering the provision of essential services to children and communities. The loss of school meals and other health and nutrition services in the first months of the pandemic affected 370 million children in 195 countries, increasing hunger and nutritional deficiencies for the most disadvantaged. Some countries, however, have been able to adapt and maintain school feeding programmes. The disruption also concerns health and psychosocial services, since education institutions from preschool admission of international schools in kerala also serve as platforms for prevention, diagnosis, and counselling. As a result, vulnerable groups are experiencing both a loss of essential services and a lack of social protection mechanisms.
As with previous pandemics, COVID-19 has shown that education institution closures represent an increased risk for women and girls, as they are more vulnerable to multiple types of abuse, such as domestic violence, transactional sex, and early and forced marriages.
The closures have also affected the ability of many parents to work. A significant share of working parents relies on childcare and schools. In countries such as France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the USA, 60 per cent of parents have been unable to find alternative solutions for schools and day-care centres. A recent study highlights that women are bearing a greater share of additional time spent on childcare and household tasks. Coupled with the present economic disruption, this will likely contribute to higher earning gaps, thus widening gender inequality. Furthermore, studies project that working-hour losses will represent up to 400 million full-time jobs. As parents who lose income make difficult choices, enrolment and girls’ education rates may decline, while child labour, recruitment, and exploitation rise. With the number of people in extreme poverty due to COVID-19 projected to increase between 71 and 100 million, attention should be paid to dropouts, as well as opportunity costs that are likely to affect parents’ decisions to support their children’s education. School closures will have not only immediate economic consequences but long-lasting effects. It is estimated that for the first time since its conception, the Human Development Index, of which the education dimension accounts for a third, will show a striking decline.
Learning to learn during COVID-19
As the health crisis unfolded, causing massive socio-economic disruptions, education systems around the world were swift to react and adapt. Governments responded quickly to ensure education continuity and protect the safety of learners and education actors by closing schools36 and other learning spaces. However, the unequal provision of learning modalities during closures will likely create inequities in the longer term.
A WIDE RANGE OF DISTANCE LEARNING TOOLS
Ensuring learning continuity during the time of school closures became a priority for governments the world over, many of which turned to ICT, requiring teachers to move to online delivery of lessons. Countries report that some modalities have been used more than others, depending on education level, with variability across regions. In areas with limited connectivity, governments have used more traditional distance learning modalities, often a mix of educational television and radio programming, and the distribution of print materials.
Relatively few countries are monitoring the effective reach and use of distance learning modalities. However, estimates indicate variable coverage: distance learning in high income countries covers about 80–85 per cent, while this drops to less than 50 per cent in low income countries. This shortfall can largely be attributed to the digital divide, with the disadvantaged having limited access to basic household services such as electricity; a lack of technology infrastructure; and low levels of digital literacy among students, parents, and teachers.
School closures have necessitated changes in – and in some cases caused serious disruptions to – how students are evaluated. In most countries, exams have been postponed; in a few, they have been cancelled; and, in others, they have been replaced by continuous assessments or alternative modalities, such as online testing for final exams.
final exams. Innovative continuous assessment methods have received a lot of attention. Student progress can be monitored with mobile phone surveys, tracking usage and performance statistics from learning platforms and apps, and implementing rapid learning assessments to identify learning gaps. Every solution has its own challenge, notably in terms of equity. For certain sectors, distance learning came with distinct challenges. In the early-childhood sub-sector, some countries were able to put in place virtual kindergarten for children 3−6 years of age. Technical and vocational apprenticeship schemes and work-based learning centres were able to adapt in some countries. In many higher education institutions, the move to distance learning has been an opportunity to expand flexible learning modalities, setting the stage for a sustained shift towards more online learning in this sub-sector in the future. Sustainable solutions should build upon experiences with the widespread use of technology to ensure learning continuity during the pandemic, including for the most marginalized.
EFFORTS MADE TO PROMOTE INCLUSIVE LEARNING
As states adopt distance learning practices, students with disabilities are facing barriers due to the absence of necessary equipment, internet access, accessible materials, and the support that would allow them to follow online programmes. Some countries are developing tools and resources for learners with disabilities and their parents. This requires enhancing accessibility features, such as audio narration, sign language video, and simplified text, as well as provision of assistive devices and, in some cases, reasonable accommodation. To reach the 700 children with disabilities who are enrolled in Azraq and Za’atari refugee camps in Jordan, for example, one innovation has been the use of transparent masks, so that deaf children can still lip read.
The negative outcomes of prolonged closures disproportionately impact displaced children. This situation is especially precarious for girls, most at risk of permanently dropping out. In response, UNHCR has taken measures to ensure displaced children and youth can access distance learning alternatives as part of national responses and offered health training for teachers and community awareness-raising activities on COVID-19, while upgrading water and sanitation facilities in and around learning spaces.
More than 70 countries have adapted their school feeding programmes to continue supporting children during school closures. Nearly 50 countries are providing take-home rations to children and their families in various forms, including through daily meal delivery and pre-packaged monthly rations. Twentytwo countries have opted to replace the meals with vouchers or cash that families can use to buy food or other essential items. Some 6.9 million learners in 45 low income countries have been reached since the onset of the crisis with take-home rations by governments with the support of the UN system.
SUPPORTS FOR TEACHERS’ NEEDS
From the onset of the pandemic, teachers were immediately tasked with implementing distance learning modalities, often without sufficient guidance, training, or resources. As figure 6 indicates, this occurred at every level of education. In many contexts, teacher professional development has moved online or been disseminated via telephone and video applications, but marginalized teachers may have missed out on such support. Web-based class meetings and messaging applications have become useful tools and new ways of communicating with their learners and the education community.
Teachers across the globe were largely unprepared to support continuity of learning and adapt to new teaching methodologies. In sub-Saharan Africa, only 64 per cent of primary and 50 per cent of secondary teachers have received even minimum training, which often does not include basic digital skills. Even in contexts with adequate infrastructure and connectivity, many educators lack the most basic ICT skills, meaning they will likely struggle with their own ongoing professional development, let alone with facilitating quality distance learning. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted that both initial and in-service teacher education are in need of reform to better train teachers in new methods of education delivery.
Teachers’ physical health was put at risk when required to provide face-to-face education for the children of essential workers and vulnerable children. Adding to the fear of being exposed to the virus was a fear of losing salaries and benefits, all while coping with increased workloads and family responsibilities. This is especially true of female teachers who had to continue teaching and bore a disproportionate share of family responsibilities.
Some countries integrated psychological support into their contingency plans, manuals, and guides for teachers and local associations; and NGOs mobilized to provide additional support. Many more teachers will need psychological support themselves if they are to meet the needs of their students. Without this, the strain can lead to burnout, resulting in high rates of absenteeism, and can even lead some teachers to leave their jobs, undermining efforts to build school resilience.48 COVID-19 has had varying impacts on the employment and salaries. Recent data suggest that only a minority of countries did not pay statutory teachers. However, furloughing and delays in salary payments were more common. In the public sector, teachers on temporary contracts were especially affected, as contracts were not renewed and those paid by the hour were out of work.
In low-income countries in particular, where parents stopped paying fees or teachers have been unable to teach remotely, teachers lost their livelihoods. A survey by Education International51 revealed that, among teacher unions from 67 countries, nearly two-thirds reported that education workers in private institutions were significantly affected, with teachers on temporary contracts and support personnel were most affected . Refugee teachers are often not part of the national education system and also were vulnerable to the cessation of salaries and job losses while schools were not in session. Failure of non-state schools, either now or in the future, would leave public education systems to absorb high numbers of additional students.
