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virus and new data shows it doesn’t,” Duration of school closures due to
said Saavedra in an interview from Covid pandemic (weeks)
Washington to PTI news agency. With
particular reference to India, Saavedra
warned “learning poverty in India is FRANCE 12
expected to increase from 55 percent RUSSIA 13
to 70 percent due to learning loss and UK 27
more out-of-school children”. CHINA 27
Certainly, policy formulators, the GERMANY 38
academy, industry and the middle AUSTRALIA 44
class have gravely under-estimated CANADA 51
the covert damage that the world’s USA 71
most prolonged pre-primary and pri- 78
mary schools lockdown has inflicted BRAZIL
on India’s children below 14 years of INDIA 82
age. In this connection, it’s pertinent
to bear in mind that even before the 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the Source: UNESCO (2022)
ill-considered 82 weeks’ schools lock-
down, India’s children were ill-served daycare centres. Since infants can’t be
by the public education system. expected to mask, maintain social dis-
The Annual Status of Education tance and observe Covid protocols, a
Report (ASER) — the outcome of majority of middle-class parents have
massive painstaking field testing of resorted to home schooling them.
children in rural India — published by In this situation although children’s
the globally-respected Pratham Edu- learning loss may be contained, their
cation Foundation, has been regularly emotional development, socialisation
highlighting the abysmal learning out- skills and self-respect are certain to be
comes of routinely promoted children adversely affected. Because of the too
in primary — especially government — prolonged closure of schools, many
schools. For instance, the percentage years of work to impact the value of
of class V children who can’t read class professionally provided early child-
II texts or do simple maths has been hood care and education to children in
rising year-on-year and is currently their most important formative years
over 56 percent (ASER 2021). Popat-Vats: down the drain has gone down the drain,” lamented
A GAINST THIS backdrop, 16,067 children in 1,137 government president of the Early Childhood Asso-

Dr. Swati Popat Vats, founder-
the compound effect
ciation of India and a pioneer crusader
of 82 weeks schools
view to EducationWorld (EW July).
of the Indian Union, found that 92
closure because of the schools in 44 districts of five states for universal formal ECCE, in an inter-
pandemic, is certain to be crushing. percent of children in all classes have Yet even as most governments
Comments a field research study titled lost at least one specific language ca- around the world are making every
Loss of Learning During the Pandem- pability (whatever the medium of in- effort to keep schools and education
ic (2021) of the Bengaluru-based Azim struction) while 82 percent have lost institutions running, often spending
Premji University (APU, estb.2010): mathematical ability acquired in the billions of dollars by way of insurance
“Overall loss of learning — loss (re- previous year. cover and incentives, and are simul-
gression or forgetting) of what chil- Tragically, the worst affected by the taneously designing and implement-
dren had learnt in the previous class long drawn-out education lockdown ing remedial and learning recovery
as well as what they did not get an op- will be youngest children in pre-pri- programmes, the Central government
portunity to learn in the present class mary education, deprived of critically which after the first pandemic year
— is going (sic) to lead to a cumulative important ECCE (early childhood conveniently devolved responsibil-
loss over the years, impacting not only care and education) for 22 months. “I ity to open and shut schools on state
the academic performance of children fear youngest children will suffer the governments, has shown no urgency
in their school years but also their greatest damage because of the pro- in formulating a national learning re-
adult lives”. The study which tested longed lockdown of pre-primaries and covery programme.

FEBRUARY 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 57