As COVID-19 pandemic continues inflicting unprecedented changes in education, Global Education Monitoring Report by UNESCO has urged all the governments to reconstruct the education system in a way that would foster better accessibility by all the students. The report has taken into consideration key variables such as identity, ethnicity, religion, language, gender identity, beliefs and attitudes.
On assessing the effects of school closure, the report has expressed uncertainty about the relationship between school shutdown and curb on infection spread. It further highlights the lack of conclusive evidence on the issue making it quite divisive at times.
“Some teachers who belong to vulnerable groups are concerned that their health is at risk. Only a minority of countries can enforce strict social distancing rules in schools,” the report pointed out.
It says that the setback is substantially huge although the magnitude of the disruption in education is difficult to pin down yet.
“Among low- and middle-income countries, 17 percent are planning to recruit more teachers, 22 pc to increase class time and 68 pc to introduce remedial classes when schools reopen. How such classes are planned and targeted will be critical to whether disadvantaged students can catch up,” as stated in the report.
It further added how the digital gap prevalent in all the infected countries except only a few have resulted in short-term loss of learning by the students.
“The COVID-19 crisis has shown that the issue is not just about technical solutions to tackle the digital divide. Although distance learning has captured many headlines, only a minority of countries have the basic infrastructure to focus on the pedagogical challenges of online approaches to teaching and learning.”
The Global Education Monitoring Report is framed by an independent team and published by UNESCO.
