Much analysis has been done as to the effects of the pandemic on Education. Inevitably the conclusions are not good in many respects. Apart from the obvious loss of 3-4 months equivalent progress across the subject spectrum, there are additional negative aspects, as outlined in this article by Business Insider. Key among them are the fact that “11 million girls may never return to school”, according to Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of UNESCO. This will do little to help the situation regarding gender inequality that seemed to have started to gain some momentum internationally. Similarly, Henrietta Fore, the executive director of UNICEF, claims that “at least 24 million children are projected to drop out of school permanently due to COVID-19”. These figures point to the fall-out of closed schools and what might increase further if there are delays to reopening. But this situation also has to be balanced with the health implications that this might have on extended families if the environments are not as safe as possible from the transmission of virus. Henrietta goes on to comment that “”Before the pandemic, the world was facing a learning crisis in terms of both access to and quality of education for every child. If we don’t take action now together, the crisis will only deepen, and children will pay the highest price of all.”
