In the Wake of the Pandemic, There’s Likely to be a lot Less Money for Education.

The ripple effects of COVID-19 are staggering, including high levels of unemployment and a transformation in our education system. All around the world, major shifts are happening in education.

In the wake of the pandemic, there’s likely to be a lot less money for education. Generally, economic growth has been a major driver of increased public spending on education. For example, during the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, GDP growth was -0.1 percent, and during that time education spending in lower-income countries slowed down significantly. Last month, the International Monetary Fund projected that COVID-related GDP growth will be -3.0%. Other projections state that there will be contractions in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, with middle-income countries being the most affected. With the shock of the pandemic, there will likely be an even greater drop in education spending, which presents a huge risk that the Sustainable Development Goals for education will fall further off-track.

Remote learning via workbooks has been a solution for regions where radio and internet instruction are not viable options.

In response to the pandemic, most countries around the world shut schools down as a measure to keep communities safe. In high income countries, most school systems were able to quickly pivot to remote learning (though we must note that even in these instances, many low income families struggled with access to devices and internet access.) In many low-income countries, schools were closed for a significant period, and by May 2020 only a handful of these countries had remote school via TV and/ or radio, and even fewer via internet. By August 2020, most countries had a distance learning program in place, though a few nations such as Sudan, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, and Myanmar have not yet established formal remote learning programs.

Research shows that when schools are not in session, children lose some of their learning – this regression happens every year in countries like the United States, which have an extended summer vacation. However, learning regression is not the same across socio-economic levels, and children who are poor are most adversely affected, exacerbating an already large education gap. In India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, DRC, Indonesia, Tanzania, Ghana, Mozambique, Senegal, Malawi, and Eswatini, some schools have still not reopened, and there are estimates that close to 7 million students in those countries could drop out of school entirely due to the income shock of the pandemic.

In many low- and low-to-middle income countries, the pandemic is exacerbating existing income inequalities, and nothing has made this issue clearer than the disparities in remote learning opportunities and access. In low income households in low- and lower-middle income countries, only 1 in 5 households have internet access and 1 in 2 have radio or TV access. In these countries, EdTech firms still have very low usage, and there are only two firms with more than one million users in Africa. So, even though most low -and lower-income countries do have remote learning in place, most low income children in these regions cannot access these remote learning programs at all.

The effects of the pandemic are vast, and we will see these income inequalities for years to come. That is why we are committed to supporting small, community based organizations in the global south – to help combat these income inequalities and provide children in these countries with education and leadership opportunities, which are especially critical in times of crisis.