ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
1
AUTHOR OF STUDYNAME OF STUDYMONTH/YEAREDUCATION PROVISION (ALL SCHOOL)EDUCATION PROVISION (PRIMARY)EDUCATION PROVISION (UP/LS)EDUCATION PROVISION (UPPER SEC)EQUITYPROVISION OF ED SUPPLIESPROVISION OF TECH INF &SUPPLIESSCHOOL FEESCOVID 19 PROTECTIVE MEASURESCHILD HEALTHNUTRITIONHOUSEHOLD DISTRESS/POVERTYCHILD MARRIAGECHILD LABOURSOCIO-EMOTIONAL LEARNING LOSSOTHER
2
McKinseyCOVID-19 and student learning in the United States: The hurt could last a lifetime2020Learning loss will probably be greatest among low-income, black and Hispanic students. Students from lower-income groups are less likely to have access to high-quality remote learning or to a conducive learning environment, devices they do not need to share, high-speed internet and parental academic supervision.The average K–12 student in the United States could lose $61,000 to $82,000 in lifetime earnings (in constant 2020 dollars), or the equivalent of a year of full-time work, solely as a result of COVID-19– related learning losses and an estimated impact of $110 billion annual earnings across the entire current K-12 cohort. Of that sum, $98.8
billion would be associated with loss of learning and the rest ($11.2 billion) with the increase in the
number of high-school dropouts.		Three scenarios:
Scenario 1: Return to in-class schooling in fall 2020
Scenario 2: Return to in-class schooling in Jan 2021
Scenario 3: Return to in-class schooling in fall 2021
In Scenario 2, average 3-4 months learning lost with a average remote learning; 7-11 months learning lost with low-quality remote learning, 12-14 months learning lost with no instruction. This would exacerbate existing achievement gaps by 15-20%. It is estimated that an additional 2 to 9 percent of high-school students could drop out as a result of the coronavirus and associated school
closures—232,000 ninth-to-11th graders (in the mildest scenario) to 1.1 million (in the worst one).
3
UNICEFRapid assessment of learning during school closures in the context of COVID20211] 10% of students overall do not have access to any of the following devices – smartphone, feature phone, television (TV), radio, or laptop/computer with significant variation between states. More than 10 per cent of students do not have access to mobile phones within or outside of their households. 40% of students did not use any form of remote learning in the past 6 months. Parents reported that data costs (37%), device affordability (31%) and poor network connectivity (27%) are key challenges to remote learning options
2] Of the respondents who did not use any remote learning opportunities, 45 per cent of them report not being aware of any resources from which to learn. Television (TV) and feature phones are particularly underutilised for learning.
3] Despite many states distributing textbooks for the new academic year, nearly one in three parents still ask for support with textbooks and other learning materials. Nearly 30-40 per cent of students are not in touch with their teachers, though this varies significantly by state. A smaller proportion of younger students and rural students are in touch with their teachers.
4] More than half of teachers surveyed perceive remote learning materials and methods to be less effective than classroom teaching
5] While students in private schools mostly used WhatsApp, private tuition and live video classes, their government school peers mostly used textbooks, teacher home visits and YouTube for learning, so
that there were no major differences in overall usage levels.
6] Over half of the students who used remote learning did so across multiple resources. WhatsApp is the most used tool by students and teachers alike (over half of students and 89 per cent of surveyed
teachers). Many parents, adolescents and teachers see value in technology tools, some even believe they are more effective than in-person learning. Of the teachers who found WhatsApp, YouTube and
live video classes effective, approximately 40 per cent thought they were more effective than inperson learning.
7] Students who are perceived to be learning more are also more likely to have used high-tech tools.
8] 42% of 5-13 years old students, and 29% of 14-18 year old students are not in touch with their teachers at all. More government school students were not in touch with their teachers compared to private school students.
9] 8 per cent of teachers do not have a personal smartphone or laptop.		Use of WhatsApp and YouTube when compared for different categories; girl's usage was 8 per cent lower
than that of boys; usage by younger students (5-13-year-old) was 16 per cent lower than that of older students (13-18-year-old); rural students' usage was 15 per cent lower compared to urban students
and for students of class 1 to 5, government school students' usage was 10 per cent lower compared to students from private schools.
10 per cent of families could not afford to send children back to school and 6 per cent needed children to help earn an income.
Parents of children from migrant families (60 percent) and from ST families (53 per cent) rated their children's mental and socio-emotional well-being as poor or very poor compared to the status reported for the overall sample.
About a third of elementary students (as perceived by their parents) and nearly half of secondary students feel that their mental and socio-emotional health has been poor or very poor since May 2020		1] 97% of students spend 3-4 hours studying and learning per day on average, which is lower than the time spen on instruction and self-study when schools are open.
2] Sixty-seven (67) per cent of parents of students aged 5-13 years and 71 per cent of students aged 14-18 years state that overall progress is significantly behind or somewhat behind, compared to what it would be in school
3] While students from migrant and ST families use remote learning resources at similar levels to their peers, when parents were asked if their children were learning as much as before the pandemic, 15 per cent more migrant parents and 9 per cent more ST parents reported that their children were learning less now.
4] Seventy-five (75) per cent of parents (of children aged 5-13) feel their child is learning less or significantly less than in school and 67 per cent report that their child's overall progress is significantly behind or somewhat behind where it would be if schools were open. Migrant students and ST students are worse off i.e., 90 per cent and 81 per cent of parents of migrant children, and 84 per cent of parents of ST children aged 5-13 report that students are learning less than they would in school.
5] Sixty-seven (67) per cent teachers perceive students to have fallen behind in their overall progress compared to where they should be pre-COVID if schools were open, especially, for elementary students (70 per cent elementary grade teachers compared to 61 per cent secondary teachers). More teachers in urban areas (72 per cent) perceive students to having fallen behind compared to rural areas (62 per cent).
4
Alvi & GuptaLearning in times of lockdown: how Covid-19 is affecting education and food security in India07/20Temporary suspension of mid-day meals and supplementary nution programs has implications for nutrition and food security of children
Home delivered meals/dry ration to school and Angadwadi children in certain southern states (Kerala, Telangana,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) have benefited millions of children and expecting mothers
5
Khan et alSchool Students’ Perception and Challenges towards Online Classes during COVID-19 Pandemic in India: An Econometric Analysis04/2193.8% of the students are taking online classes. 69.1% of the students had prior knowledge of ICT. The majority of the students (86%)use mobile phones for taking online classes. 27% of the students said connectivity of their Internet is poor and 29.6% of the students faced electricity problem, which led to disconnection during the online classes more than three times for 30.6% of the respondents. Google Meet is the most used app (29.1%) for online
classes in Delhi’s schools, whereas 23.4% of the students used a WhatsApp group. Zoom is the third preferred tool (21.3%) for taking online classes; YouTube and school websites are also considered a tool for online classes in Delhi.
48.1% of the students said that they were not comfortable with online classes and 47.3% said there is no interaction with teachers, 45% said there is a lot of distraction at home, and 30.4% siad that they do not understand the content delivered online.
29.9% of the sample respondents faced challenges of lack of textbooks.		The family size of most of the respondent students is large more than five members (31% of the students have five members in the family, 18% belongs to six members in the family). In addition 33.8% of the students lived in one -room, 36% lived in two rooms and 12% lived in more than three rooms; it is difficult for them to manage online classes due to a lot of difficulties as they have only one ICT device which is shared with their siblings at the same time leading to gender inequalities
inequalities as parents have preferred boys education more instead of girls’ education
6
Hassan et alA Critical Review by Teachers on the Online Teaching-Learning during the COVID-1910/2095.7% of the teachers considered online teaching as a suitable alternative to classroom teaching at the time of the pandemic.
73.5% of the teachers reported facing technical difficulties while delivering online or creating e-content
91.7% were facing internet connectivity issues while delivering online lectures
55.1% of the teachers said they lacked sufficient computer skills to conduct lectures or create e-content
63.5% of the teacher felt the need for training or guidelines for preparing online material or using online teaching platforms
Teachers reported that only 28.6% of students respond to assignments or projet work assigned online
89.6% of the teachers considered lack of face to face interaction as a disadvantage in online teaching
85.7% of the teachers used Whatsapp for online delivery of instruction, 56.9% used Whatsapp and Zoom, 37.5% used Google classroom and whatsapp. 18.75% teachers used Zoom and YouTube
71.4% of the teachers reported they take care of plagiarism and copyright issues, while the rest reported lack of awareness
89.8% of the teachers though that creating e-content takes more time than face to face classroom teaching and 42.5 % found online teaching and content creation very difficult
7
OxfamOxfam - Status Report Government and Private Schools during COVID-19May-June 2020Parents: 80% in govt schools (100% in Bihar) and 60 % in private schools felt that education was not delivered. Where education was "delivered", predominant mode was WhatsApp messages or text messages. (20% in private schools some form of structured learnign provided through Zoom, YouTube)80 % of govt school students have not received textbooks (Orissa 31% had not received textbooks, because Orissa govt had issued guidelines)75% of govt school parents reported several problems in accessing digital education; 84 % of teachers report challenges (80 % iof teachers n UP and 67 % in Chattisgarh say they do not have device). Pvt school parents: 53 % say internet speed /reliability is an issue; 32 % say it is too expensive; 23 % have no device and 18 % have no internet connection50 % of private school parents report spendign 20% of monthly hh income on school fees. 39 % report (50% in UP and Odisha) that fees were increased for new academic year. 15 % parents charged for uniforms.40% of govt schools are used as quarantine/ration centres; 43 % of govt teachers say WASH facilities inadequate; 10 % of teachers doing non-teaching facilities have been given PPE; 20% given hazard pay/allowance35 % children in govt schools did not receive any food' only 8% received cooked meals; In UP , 92% did not get any food
8
Rajagopal, S., & Gupta, MCOVID-19: Navigating digital learning in government schools in Rajasthan: Voices from the field.Published July 2020Govt created e-learning platform with lessons communicated via WhatsApp. Report has detailed description of Rajasthan govts aooroach of uploading lessons, how lessons had to be distirbuted etc. Most teachers felt that education provision was severely affected by this method. Estimate that 25-50% of students could connect to SMILE. Students often did not get prior information regarding the next day's lessons. Teachers were expected to follow up with phone calls to students, and submit two Google Forms, one of which was to record calls made to students. Districts and state authorities reviewed these statistics. Regarding quality, teachers felt that lessons were put together in a hurry, sometimes confusion in uploaded subject matter, and teachers were not trained or consulted. Govt created e-learning platform with lessons communicated via WhatsApp. Report has detailed description of Rajasthan govts aooroach of uploading lessons, how lessons had to be distirbuted etc. Most teachers felt that education provision was severely affected by this method. Estimate that 25-50% of students could connect to SMILE. Students often did not get prior information regarding the next day's lessons. Teachers were expected to follow up with phone calls to students, and submit two Google Forms, one of which was to record calls made to students. Districts and state authorities reviewed these statistics. Regarding quality, teachers felt that lessons were put together in a hurry, sometimes confusion in uploaded subject matter, and teachers were not trained or consulted. Children of migrant labour had left the village. Those who could not afford smartphone or data packages could not connectStudents did not have textbooks. Teachers sent chapters via WhatsApp (sometimes broken up into parts)Most students did not have Smartphone or the required data package. Student had to wait for parent or elder sibling to return. In remote areas, teachers could also not download contentIron Folic Acid supplements and sanitary napkins for girs were not providedChildren did not receive mid day mealsHigh level of distress reported especially among migrant labour
9
Singh,K. A., Satyavada, S. R., Goel, T., Sarangapani, S., & Jayendran, N. Use of EdTech in Indian school education during COVID-19- A reality check. Published May 202050% of urban teachers and 40% of rural teachers were in touch with students through WhatsApp and phonecalls.90% of teachers had access to smartphone; 40-50% had access to laptops. Significant power cuts in rural areas.70% of urban teachers and 50 % of rural teachers reported "good" network connection. Just over 50 % of teachers have access to data of more than 1 GB per day. Regarding students, 50% of students felt that most students ahve access to smartphones , and 50 % of teachers felt some students have access. Access to a device for at least 2hours is possible only for some students.70% of teachers were concerned that students will "lose touch with studies"The survey was about teacher concerns and perceptions. Teachers voiced concerned about safety and wellbeign of their families; teachers in private schools were also concerned about loss of jobs. They felt they had little preparation for the transition to lonline learning. It was difficult to find resources in line with the respective syllabus and medium of teaching. Urban teachers suggested greater use of blended learning adn staggered shifts; rural teachers preferred greater reliance on use of radio and television.
10
Cherian RThe odd one is out: Voices from virtual classroomsPublished March 2021Assuming that poor families do not value education rather than realizing that they are really facing problems in accessing virtual classesInfrastructural issues, unaffordability, poor connection, lack of literate environment – students from economically weaker section
unfamiliarity with tech enabled classes and softwares (both teachers and students)
institutional apathy
11
Devara, R. Broadband internet access – a luxury or a right?Published Dec 2020About 51% population that remain unconnected
School closure going to exacerbate the inequality (rural-urban and gender)
Argues for treating internet access as a Public Good and make it freely available – universal quality broadband
12
UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, FlorenceCOVID-19: Missing More Than a Classroom. The impact of school closures on children’s nutritionPublished Jan 2021Uses pre-existing data on meal programmes and their linkages with child health, educational attainment and cognitive development
Cites Take home ration and cash transfers as good practices (various country examples including India)
Argues for safe school meal programme to be started as soon as schools reopen; also arguing for early school opening for avoiding disastrous effect on child health and nutrition, and also in turn education
13
Dhawan, S.Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisisPublished June 2020It is a reality and it provides many opportunities – denial is not going to do any good
- explore the growth of EdTech Start-ups and online learning.
- conducts an Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Challenges (SWOC) analysis of online learning during the Corona Virus pandemic and natural disasters.

Argues for adequate IT infrastructure, tools, resources, knowledge for all institutions
Does not clearly mentions but cites examples from higher education
14
CBPS Life in the time of Covid-19: Mapping the impact of Covid-19 on the lives of school going children especially girls in IndiaSurvey in July August 2020
Care work and chores – Most girls (71%) reported spending time on chores and care work vs. boys (38%), even within the same HH, girls did more care work.
Education – Girls (46%) spent lesser time on education as compared to boys (56%). Most boys (79%) spent time on leisure activities as compared to girls (60%)
More number of children in Bihar reported spending time on studies (63%) – compared to UP (29%) and Telangana (8%) – where most children said they were engaged in domestic and care work – UP (63%) and Telangana (77%)

Majority (56%) said a hopeful ‘yes’ – but 37% did not answer the question or said they did not know – pointing to high uncertainties of return
High ambiguity from boys - Assam (82%) Bihar (39%) and UP (31%) were uncertain about return compared to girls – Assam (54%), Bihar (37%) and UP (32%)
Ambiguity about return higher in Pvt school children compared to those in Govt. schools.
Children from HH with cash and food shortages showed more ambiguity than ones who did not face any economic issues (44 % vs 16%)

Men Control Technological Devices - In 71% of the HH, phones belong to the male member
Only 30% said they could access phones whenever they wanted, 18% said that they could not access even when phone was present at home. State wise – Assam (23%), Bihar (21%), UP (16%) said they could never access
While 37% boys said they could always access a telephone, only 26% girls reported the same
49% students said they have no access to internet, boys reported having slightly higher access than girls.
HH with financial difficulties had lower access to both phones and internet


Low take up of distance mode (11%) even when 52 % had TV at home		Disproportionately affected marginalised lower caste groups by a factor of three as there is over-representation of them in vulnerable jobs.
84% said not enough employment opportunities, 93% in Bihar, 86% in UP, relatively low in Assam (64%), Telengana (54%)


Cash crunch: 84% (Yes), Bihar (88%), Telangana (53%)
Since lockdown started (47%), since May-June (15%), 16% always had a cash crunch
63% reported food shortages, 71% in Bihar
Coping strategies – Eating basic food (42%), borrowing (20%), selling assets (9%), 8% not enough food
70% minorities said not enough food at home
Both food and cash shortage (58%), only 10% of the families were economically comfortable in this crisis situation
15
Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy ResearchTHE IMPACT OF THE
COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON
PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION		Jan 211. Diksha: The platform contains e-books for Grade XII developed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), NCERT and states/UTs, with the materials available in different languages. 2. SWAYAM: This is the flagship national online education platform offering courses for school children (Grades IX-XII) as well as higher education. 3. SWAYAM Prabha: This is offered through 32 Direct-to-Home (DTH) television channels with a 24-hour service, available for free. The channels offer teaching for schools (Grades IX-XII) and higher education. They also cater to out-of-school-children, and offer vocational courses and teacher training.
4. e-Pathshala: NCERT has provided audios, videos, e-books, and flipbooks for students from Grades I-XII. A mobile application is also available. 5. National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER): This is a knowledge repository of audio recordings, videos, images, documents, and other media in several languages. 6. Creation of virtual schools under the ‘Padhai Tunhar Duvaar’ initiative in Chhattisgarh, and Whatsapp-based campaigns – ‘Ghar Se Padhao’ in Haryana and ‘Har Ghar Pathshala’ in Himachal Pradesh & ‘Mera Doordarshan Mera Vidyalaya’ programme in Bihar.
1. The pandemic is likely to create a gendered impact, with a marked effect on girls’ education and wellbeing.
2. The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014 led to an increase in household and care-giving responsibilities for girls, limiting their access to learning. This further resulted in higher school drop-outs among females; many older girls did not rejoin school even after the epidemic. 3. In India, 32 per cent of rural females drop out of school due to domestic duties. 4. In addition to a decline in learning, girls are likely to encounter increased gender-based violence. In the past, pandemics have been accompanied by rising sexual abuse and intimate partner violence experienced by women [School closures during the Ebola epidemic resulted in early and forced marriages, and increased rates of pregnancy]. Girls may also face increased risk of child abuse and trafficking. 5. NSS data show that in 2017-18 net attendance rate at secondary level (including higher secondary) for “General” category students was 71 per cent, while that for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) students was 54 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively. The pandemic is likely to have a disproportionately high impact on children from vulnerable backgrounds, including those belonging to marginalised castes, tribes and religions. 6. Parents face challenges due to their limited educational levels, erratic internet connectivity and inability to ensure continued access of mobile phones to children. 7. Children belonging to SC/ST households and poor families do not have access to TV or mobile phones, and are unable to continue their education, particularly in rural areas.
1. The challenges of the ‘digital divide’ are further exacerbated in rural areas, and for women and girls. 2. NSS 2017-18 revealed that only 25 percent of households had access to internet facilities (ranging from 10 per cent in Odisha to 56 per cent in Delhi), with the proportion being 15 per cent in rural areas. 3.The proportion of persons aged 5 years and above who are able to operate internet facilities was 20 per cent in rural and urban areas, and was even lower – at 15 per cent – for females. 4. Access to mobile phones is also limited for girls as compared to boys, with the gap in access increasing with age. 5. NITI Aayog also reported lack of mobile network coverage in over 55,000 villages in the country, particularly in the north-east region.
1. The inability of children to access cooked meals during the lockdown is likely to have a detrimental effect on their nutrition and health. The impact may be worse for girls and other children from marginalised groups.
1. The decline in livelihoods and stress on household finances arelikely to increase the opportunity cost of education for families, thereby halting children’s schooling and increasing their participation in the labour force. 2. This particular pathway to discontinued education may be more pronounced for male children. 3. NSS data indicates that among ever-enrolled males in rural areas, 35 per cent of school drop-outs occur due to involvement in economic activities and 26 per cent due to financial constraints.7 These factors are likely to be aggravated. 4. Increased likelihood of child labour arising from large-scale job loss for casual labourers
1. With the use of distance learning methods, teaching has largely become a one-sided activity as children are unable to ask questions or clarify doubts. 2. Teachers have been instructed to keep track of students who are viewing televised lessons and report on completion of tasks by students. However, a single teacher has been able to interact with only four to five students per day. 3. Maintaining contact with students has become difficult with parents resuming work. Although some teachers attempted to organise classroom sessions over video calls, this was rarely achieved.
16
UNICEFCOVID-19: Effects of School Closures on Foundational Skills and Promising Practices for Monitoring and Mitigating Learning LossUse of EdTech in Indian school education during COVID-19- A reality check.Oct-20Most countries are providing remote learning through both digital and nondigital channels to reach primary (68 per cent), lower secondary (71 per cent) and upper secondary students (74 per cent), only 36 per cent of countries are using both to reach preprimary age students.
1. The World Bank’s pre COVID-19 learning poverty measures revealed that only 10 per cent of children in low-income countries were able to read and understand a simple story by the age of 10, in contrast to 90 per cent of children in high-income countries (World Bank, 2019). Unequal access to continued learning during the COVID-19 school closures and once schools reopen may exacerbate this gap. 2. Estimates on the global reach of broadcast and online remote learning from over 100 countries find that, at minimum, 30 per cent of the world’s children were not reached by remote learning during the COVID-19 school closures due to a lack of country-level remote learning policies and/or a lack of household access to technology (UNICEF, 2020a). 3. The authors also found that students who are not reached by any online, television or radio remote learning modalities are mainly from rural areas (76 per cent) and belong to poor families (72 per cent) (UNICEF, 2020a).
Survey results from educators in 48 centres delivering remote learning for refugees in Lebanon indicate that consistent communication between teachers, communities and caregivers is vital for remote learning to be delivered and taken-up effectively.
Pre-covid:
1. Missing school is associated with damaging reductions in foundational skills. 2. Children aged 9-11 who were out of school at the time of the survey (but in school in the previous year) were between 11 and 43 percentage points less likely to acquire foundational reading skills than children staying in school. 3. For ages 12-14, recently out of school children were between 5 and 54 percentage points behind those enrolled. 4. Pre-covid studies (during teacher strike, ebola, other emergencies) have clearly indicated that the loss is between 0.1 to 0.5 standard deviation. 5. Three and a half month closure due to earthquake in Pakistan (2015) showed that learning loss was equal to 1.5 grades. 6. Ebola studies: The number of hours of learning lost per pupil has been estimated at 486 for Guinea, 582 for Liberia and 780 for Sierra Leone (UNDG, 2015). A reduction in attendance after schools reopened was also documented, ranging from a 7 per cent reduction in Guinea to a 25 per cent reduction in Liberia. In most cases, this was attributed to loss of household income (World Bank, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c). Children who did not return to school when it reopened. Children who did not return to school after it opened post ebola: Guinea-5 month closure-7% drop-out / Liberia-7 onth closure-25% drop-out / Sierra Leone-9 month closure-13% drop-out 7. For Sierra Leone, Bandeira et al., (2018) show a decline in girls’ learning time of 12 hours per week, mainly because their time is taken up by income generation and household chores. Kostelny et al., (2018) document, through ethnographic analysis, that in some communities children lost interest in learning while schools were closed. 8. Kuhfeld et al., (2020) have undertaken a prospective analysis using data from 5 million Grade 3 to Grade 8 students in the United States. They project that students could return to school in the fall of 2020 with 32–37 per cent less progress in reading than they would have achieved in a typical school year. These predictions are even higher for math, with losses estimated between 50–63 per cent. 9. Kaffenberger (2020) creates different post-COVID-19 learning scenarios using data from seven low- and middle income countries (LMICs) to model long-term learning loss. Assuming a one third reduction in learning time (i.e. about one term outside of school), this study projects that learning levels for a child in grade 3 would be one year lower than expected by the time that child reaches grade 10. 10. Simulations from the World Bank, based on data from 157 countries, predict that a combination of school closures and the loss of family livelihoods caused by the pandemic would result in an average loss of 0.3 – 0.9 quality-adjusted years of schooling. This will reduce learning achievements that students typically gain during their lifetime from 7.9 to 7.0 – 7.6 years (Azevedo et al., 2020).


Foundational reading skills
1. Children who are recently out of school perform far behind children who continued to attend school. 2. The foundational reading skills gap between these two groups widens with age. 3. There are, however, notable variations between countries/territories, potentially due to high degree of heterogeneity in school systems. For the 9–11 age group, in the Punjab province of Pakistan, children who recently left the school are 43 percentage points less likely to demonstrate foundational reading skills compared to children attending, while in Madagascar the gap is 11 percentage points. For older children, aged 12–14, the largest gap is also observed in Pakistan’s Punjab province where recently out-of-school children are 54 percentage points below those who continued to attend. The smallest gap is seen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 5 percentage points.
17
Azim Premji FoundationLoss of Learning during
the Pandemic		Feb 21Teachers are intensely troubled to note the regression in learning; they 'became emotional when they saw that students who could read fleuntly before lockdown have forgotten to read'.
Four specific previous grade abilities in Language and Math

Learning loss in language
1. 92% of children on an average have lost at least one specific language ability from the previous year across all classes. 2. Illustratively, these specific abilities include describing a picture or their experiences orally; reading familiar words; reading with comprehension; writing simple sentences based on a picture. 3. 92% of children in class 2, 89% in class 3, 90% in class 4, 95% in class 5, and 93% in class 6 have lost at least one specific ability from the previous year.

Learning loss in mathematics
1. 82% of children on an average have lost at least one specific mathematical ability from the previous year across all classes. 2. Illustratively, these specific abilities include identifying single- and two-digit numbers; performing arithmetic operations; using basic arithmetic operations for solving problems; describing 2D/3D shapes; reading and drawing inferences from data. 3. 67% of children in class 2, 76% in class 3, 85% in class 4, 89% in class 5, and 89% in class 6 have lost at least one specific ability from the previous year.
18
LancetReopening Schools After COVID-19 Closures

Apr 211. Bihar and Uttarakhand reopened their schools for classes 6-12, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Delhi opened for class 9-11 while Uttar Pradesh has allowed primary grade children (classes 1-5) to come to school first. 2. Classroom attendance is voluntary and dependent on parental discretion and consent. States have issued additional SOPs, adapting the central government framework to the local COVID-19 situation. 3. The guidelines are comprehensive and include protocols for health, hygiene and safety, learning with physical distancing and promoting emotional well-being of students and teachers. 4. The Ministry also released an alternative academic calendar for schools, designed to cater to the need of all children including children with special needs and covers experiential learning activities such as Arts Education, Physical Exercises and pre-vocational skills along with the school-based subjects. A separate set of Learning Enhancement Guidelines were also designed for students who lack or have limited access to digital learning tools. 5. Most states are gravitating towards opening the schools for middle and senior school children due to their upcoming board examinations, while states like Assam, Meghalaya, Haryana Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh have opened or are preferring to open schools for primary grades first. 6. Our recommendation is to continue the phase-wise approach to opening schools, with a priority for pre-primary and primary classes. There are two reasons for this: first, clinical and epidemiological data largely show that younger children play a smaller role in spreading the virus: a) Most children 1 to 18 years old experience mild or no illness from COVID-19 and are much less likely than adults to face severe consequences from that susceptibility to infection also generally increases with age. Given the same exposure to infected household members, children under the age of 10 seem to become infected less frequently than adults and older adolescents; studies of both household and community transmission find that children 9 or younger are also less susceptible than 10-to-14-year-olds [A recent study from South Korea of both household and non-household contacts suggests that infected children under 10 years of age are also less contagious than infected adults]; b) younger children are less likely to learn or retain what they have learnt through remote teaching. Online learning may not give sufficient or appropriate opportunities to involve young children who need more interactions and hands-on activities to focus and learn compared to adult learners [A review of the learning levels across grades in the US indicates that that COVID-19 school closures would slow the rate of literacy ability gain by 66% in kindergarten children in the absence of mitigating alternative educational strategies]. 7. According to UNESCO, pre-primary education is the second worst affected level after tertiary education, with a projected 2.8% decline or 5 million less children attending schools in a post COVID-19 world. 8.Globally around 5.2 million girls and 5.7 million boys are at the risk of dropping out leading to 0.27% of primary and 1.48% of secondary education students at high risk.
1. The lockdown has impacted the lives of 40 million children from poor families including children working on farms in rural areas and children of migrants and street children.
1. For students who choose not to go back to school, the Education Ministry had released guidelines on digital education titled ‘PRAGYATA’ to help children learn and attend classes through synchronous and asynchronous learning methods.68 These guidelines focus on collaborative learning in small groups and creative projects, to help children not lose complete touch with their academic curriculum. 2. At the institutional level, around 1.2 million government and 400,000 private budget schools are not equipped, monetarily and infrastructure-wise, to provide technology-based learning to children. 3. A mere 11% of students enrolled in private and government schools countrywide logged into online classes and 21.5% accessed one-way video recorded classes. 4. For schools and households that do not have the infrastructure for digital learning, synchronous lessons are being delivered over phones through WhatsApp, SMS and audio calls , and through radio and TV channels.
1. Recent evidence from modelling studies indicate that school closures alone would avoid only 2–4% of deaths, a percentage much smaller than other strategies of social distancing. 2. Data from countries which reopened schools or did not shut them in the first place, indicates low community transmission rates of less than 1 new case per day per 100,000 people. 3. Evidence from documented cases in schools indicated poor trends in child-to-child transmission in schools indicating that relevant prevention strategies can potentially be effective in preventing transmission in the school setting. 4. Children 9 years or younger have demonstrated lower seroprevalence and susceptibility as compared to children aged 10-14 years. 5. Studies also indicate much lower infections in children under the age of 10, under the same conditions of exposure to infected household members, as compared to adults and adolescents. 6. States have taken different approaches to social and physical distancing. Some states are designing school schedules to limit the number of students in any classroom on a particular day. This is particularly important in cases where classes are routinely overcrowded, increasing the risk of contagion. Schools in Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have implemented alternate day attendance to limit transmission [Similar strategy has been adopted by several countries like Switzerland, Finland and Belgium where schools have instructed students to come in on alternate days so that half the desks in classrooms are left empty to make distancing easier]. Mizoram has restructured the seating plan in the classrooms to ensure adequate gaps between students. Apart from alternate days and changed seating arrangements, other strategies like time shifts have also been deployed worldwide like so that the same class of students is spread out over a longer time frame. 7. Despite the SOPs, many schools also face shortages of PPE and sanitizers; they lack access to rapid testing, and are unable to manage overcrowding in classrooms.
1. Lack of economic support at home and protection offered by schools, puts them at a high risk of violence, abuse and mental health issues. 2. Documented, systematic data is extremely limited, but incidents in Haryana and Andhra Pradesh show localized increases. 54 students between the age group of 16-18 years tested positive in a hostel in Haryana’s Karnal district, from a total sample of 390 students and staff members; in Andhra Pradesh 575 students and 829 teachers tested positive within a week of restarting all school for grades 9-11; according to statisticsstate education department, 3.93 lakh students from standard 9-10 and over 99,000 thousand attended the educational institutions in total. 3. In Punjab 452 students and 271 teachers tested positive from a total sample of 64,574 across 1,392 schools within a 13-day period in February 2021. 4. In Maharashtra’s Washim district, a hostel break out led to 229 students from a total sample of 327 testing positive. So far, much of the evidence is anecdotal, yet each episode points to the trade-offs involved in opening schools.
1. Schools play an important role in the direct provision of health and nutrition services in the crucial first 8,000 days of a child’s life. 2. The pandemic put an estimated 115 million children at the risk of severe malnutrition. 3. A recent OXFAM India, report however demonstrated, that approximately 35 children did not receive their mid-day meals. Of the remaining 65%, only 8% received cooked meals while 53 received dry rations and 4% received money in lieu of the MDM.In India an estimated 1.4 million anganwadis (government run child nutrition and early childhood education centres), 55,000 private pre-primaries, 1.5 million K-12 schools, 41,901 colleges and 1,028 universities have been sporadically shut for over 11 months, disrupting learning, and incurring economic losses estimated at over USD 400 billion in the country’s future earnings.
1. CHILDLINE 1098’ India in a recent report, announced that India saw a 50 % increase in the calls received on helpline for children, requesting protection from abuse and violence, since the lockdown began. 2. India has over 10 million children (5-14 years) and 23 million adolescents working across industries (2011 Census), and there are fears that school closures are beginning to push these numbers up
1. The absence of a structured school led routine and peer interactions has not just disrupted the lives of children, but amplified the anxiety caused by the isolation, the fears of the disease and the loss of physical, intellectual, and social engagement. 2. Motivation levels in children have declined because of the inability to play outdoors (which also affects their physical health) and meet friends, and be in the classroom. 3. The ‘new-normal’ of , learning through a new medium, absence of sharing physical space with peers and extended home confinement primarily for children in urban households, can have a long-term negative effect on their overall psychological wellbeing. 4.
1. UNESCO has listed “interrupted learning” among the top adverse consequences of COVID-19 school closures worldwide. 2. It estimates that COVID- 19 led school closures caused worldwide learning losses estimated at two thirds of an academic year on average. 3. A 2020 study on the impact of earthquake led school closures in northern Pakistan showed estimated accumulated learning loss of 2 years when measured 4 years later, and these deficits could potentially lead the affected children to lose approximately 15% of their lifetime earnings through their adult life.
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100