Children have lost more than a third of their school year to the pandemic – Save the Children

TORONTO, 2 March – A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, children across the world have lost an average of 74 days of education due to school closures and a lack of access to remote learning, Save the Children said today – more than a third of the standard global 190-day school year.

In total, an estimated 112 billion days of education[i] have been lost altogether, with the world’s poorest children disproportionately affected.

New analysis by the child rights organization of data for 194 countries- broken down at regional level- shows the difference in lost days of education becomes painfully clear:

• Both in Latin America and the Caribbean, and South Asia, children went through 110 days without any education;
• Children in the Middle East lost 80 days of education;
• Children in Sub-Saharan Africa lost an average of 69 days;
• Both in East Asia and the Pacific, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, children lost out on 45 days;
• In Western Europe, it was 38 days.

Governments and donors need to take immediate action to prevent an irreversible impact on the lives of millions of children who may never return to school[iv], the agency warned.

With the G7 coming up, world leaders, including Prime Minister Trudeau need to prioritize supporting children to return to school as safely as possible – especially girls.

Danny Glenwright, President and CEO of Save the Children, said: “Almost a year after the global pandemic was officially declared, hundreds of millions of children remain out of school. This must be the year to ensure that girls and boys – who are our future leaders – do not pay the price for this pandemic. We need to work together on a plan to get them back in school as soon as possible.”

A spike in school closures started in February 2020, and on March 11^th the pandemic was declared, pushing 91 percent of the world’s learners out of school at its peak.

As schools closed and remote learning was not equally accessible for all children, the biggest education emergency in history widened the gap between countries and within countries, Save the Children said. The academic losses resulting from school closures have a disproportionate impact on marginalized groups, who are already at risk for worse educational outcomes. The divide grew between wealthier and poorer families; urban and rural households. Additionally remote communities, such as Indigenous people living on reserves, have been adversely affected, along with refugees and children with disabilities.

Santiago, 13, attends a school for children with profound hearing loss supported by Save the Children in Venezuela. The school has been closed since the start of the pandemic. “What makes me feel sad, worried, and scared is not being able to return to school, because I like school,” he said. “People understand me there. When I can´t go to school, I cry and just want to sleep. What I would tell the children in the world who are feeling sad or scared or worried is that they are my friends. And that they are not alone.”

There have also been huge discrepancies in access to learning in wealthier nations during the pandemic, Save the Children said.

In Canada, while education is a treaty right, schools on reserves receive 30% less funding than schools funded by provincial governments. As such, many schools on-reserve are disadvantaged, resulting in worse learning conditions and outcomes. First Nations, Métis and Inuit children have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic, with a disproportionate lack of access to the internet and electronic devices to support remote learning. Many children rely on school programs not just for learning, but also for access to mental health services, food supplies and a sanctuary outside of the home.

Save the Children has outlined five evidence-based actions that countries should take to ensure all children can return to school in a safe and inclusive way, including the most marginalized children. These actions include; targeted cash transfer, catch up classes, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in schools, back-to-school campaigns and teacher professional development.

“With vaccines being rolled out, there is hope that we can win the battle against the virus, if all countries can access them. But we risk leaving a whole generation of children behind if we do not ensure every child gets back to school safely, has access to health services, has enough to eat and is protected from harm. We owe it to children to get this right,” Glenwright said.

“We also need to recognize that children need support as they return to school. Living through this pandemic will have made many anxious and they will have missed out on basic needs, like playing with friends. They may also feel enormous pressure to make up for lost education. Children need to feel comfortable and be able to engage in the process to adapt at their own pace– it should be a school-by-school, child-by-child process that does not add pressure,” added Glenwright.

Besides losing out on learning, children out of school are exposed to a higher risk of child labour, child marriage and other forms of abuse, and are more likely to be trapped in a cycle of poverty for generations to come. The global pandemic is estimated to push an additional 2.5 million girls into child marriage by 2025.

Canada has an important leadership role to play in elevating the voices and needs of refugee and internally displaced children as outlined in its recently launched Together for Learning campaign on refugee education.

Governments and donors must also close the global education financing gap in low and lower middle income countries. Save the Children, as part of a broad coalition of Canadian civil society, including Cooperation Canada, is calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to invest at least 1% of its domestic COVID-19 response and recovery spending on new and additional development assistance to protect educational and other social gains that risk being lost in this pandemic.

ENDS

For more information or interview requests please contact Jessica Bryant on 647-973-1185 or jbryant@savethechildren.ca

Content:

We can offer multimedia content from a refugee settlement in West Nile, Uganda:

Jonathan*,15, Child education campaigner: https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SA6TMLS

Peter*,15:  https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SA6TNEH

We can also offer content from Venezuela:

Santiago, 13: https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SA97WI4

Notes for Editors:

• For our analysis of the total number of 112 billion days of lost education and the impact per region, we looked at existing data on school closures, access to remote learning, out of school rates, and school-aged population. When possible, we disaggregated data by level of education, namely primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary school.
• The total number of days of in-person education that children have missed out on [i.e. the total number of days that schools have been closed] is significantly higher.
• While distance learning efforts cannot replace the full benefits of being in school, our calculation of missed days of education reflects the varying access to remote learning. We also factored in the effectiveness of remote learning. We estimate the loss of education through online learning on a global level to be around 50%, meaning that on average a day spent learning online is equal to half a day spent in school.
• For the full methodology, see this link.
• In response to the COVID-19 outbreak and the impact on education, Save the Children is providing distance learning materials, such as books and home learning kits, working closely with governments and teachers to provide lessons and support via radio, television, phone, social media and messaging apps.
• Save the Children is making sure children are safe at home and not missing out on the meals or menstrual hygiene kits they would usually receive at school. And it is providing guidance for parents and other caregivers to ensure they have the right information about how to support their children’s learning and wellbeing at home.
• Save the Children is also working with education authorities to help plan for the safe return to school, advocating with and on behalf of children to ensure decision-makers are aware of their concerns.

i Between 16 February 2020 and 2 February 2021

ii In 2019, 4.7% of U.S. households with children under 18 did not have access to the internet at home, paid or otherwise (6.5% of households did not have a paid internet subscription at home). Across the EU, only 2% of households with dependent children did not have access to the internet at home in 2019. Rates were 6% in Romania and 9% in Bulgaria. Three other non-EU European countries also have lower rates of internet access than the U.S.: Albania (9%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (13%) and Montenegro (6%). Sources:  U.S. Census Bureau. ACS 1-Year Estimates-Public Use Microdata Sample (2019) and Eurostat  (Accessed January 27, 2021)

iii Approximately 9 million of these students live in households with neither an adequate connection nor an adequate device for distance learning. An additional 1 million have an adequate connection but no device. Source: S. Chandra, A. Chang, L. Day, A. Fazlullah, J. Liu, L. McBride, T. Mudalige and D. Weiss. Closing the K-12 Digital Divide in the Age of Distance Learning. (San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media and Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Consulting Group: 2020)

iv Save our Education report, Save the Children, July 2020

[i] Between 16 February 2020 and 2 February 2021

[iv] Save our Education report, Save the Children, July 2020