A new report by prominent organisations across the world revealed that learning poverty has increased by a third in low- and middle-income countries. An estimated 70 percent of 10-year-olds are unable to understand a simple written text, according to a new report published today by the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, UK government Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), USAID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This rate was 57 percent before the pandemic, but now the learning crisis has deepened. This generation of students now risks losing $21 trillion in potential lifetime earnings in present value, or the equivalent of 17 percent of today’s global GDP, up from the $17 trillion estimated in 2021.
What does the report showcase in different regions?
The report, titled The State of Global Learning Poverty: 2022, shows that prolonged school closures, poor mitigation effectiveness, and household-income shocks had the biggest impact on learning poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a predicted 80 percent of children at the end-of-primary-school-age now unable to understand a simple written text, up from around 50 percent pre-pandemic. The next-largest increase is in South Asia, where estimates put the proportion of kids who don't meet the minimal literacy standard at 78%, up from 60% prior to the epidemic. The forecasts of significant learning losses are confirmed by newly available data on the actual learning levels of students in reopened school systems around the world. Since school closures in sub-Saharan Africa often only lasted a few months, rises in learning poverty were slower there, but they currently stand at an alarmingly high 89 percent. Simulations indicate that learning poverty is spreading to all other regions.
The situation was not better before Covid
The report also demonstrates that the global learning crisis was more severe than previously believed even before COVID-19. Updated and revised data show that 57% of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries were unable to read and comprehend a simple text, the measure for learning poverty. This makes the global average pre-pandemic learning poverty rate, which was previously estimated at 53% for 2015, even higher. The paper states that learning poverty has remained stable during this time in regions like LAC and SSA where temporally comparable data is available.
Causes for 'Learning Poverty' post-Covid
Prolonged school closures and unequal mitigation strategies have worsened learning inequality among children, according to the report. Evidence is mounting that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and other disadvantaged groups are suffering larger learning losses. Children with the most fragile grasp of foundational literacy before the closures are most likely to have suffered larger learning losses. Without strong foundational skills, children are unlikely to acquire the technical and higher-order skills needed to thrive in increasingly demanding labour markets and more complex societies.
The report further emphasised that learning recovery and acceleration requires sustained national political commitment, from the highest political levels to all members of society. The RAPID framework introduced by them offers evidence-based interventions that can be introduced by respective governments :
Reach every child and keep them in school
Assess learning levels regularly
Prioritise teaching the fundamentals
Increase the efficiency of instruction, including through catch-up learning
Develop psychosocial health and well-being.
“The Transforming Education Pre-Summit, from June 28 to 30 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, and the Transforming Education Summit, on 19 September in New York, are our opportunity to set learning on the right track and fulfil the SDG4 promise to ensure quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all,” said a statement by Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant-Director General for Education as the report aims to close the learning gap as much as possible by 2030 ‘ to ensure that all children and youth have the opportunity to shape the bright futures they deserve.’
