September 4, 2022

THIS WEEK IN HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS

Students around the world still impacted by Covid-19 disruptions to education

Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC News, Global Times, Japan Times, NPR (1, 2)

As students begin a new school year, the ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic on education are still being felt around the world. The pandemic heavily disrupted education as schools closed for lockdowns, some for more than a year. 

Uganda, which had the longest school closures in the world, closed classrooms for two years, despite lifting lockdown earlier in other sectors. The closure impacted 15 million students between March 2020 until the reopening in January 2022. Since then, the disruption to education is also strained by economic consequences of the war in Ukraine. NPR reported that fuel prices and goods have increased and impacted some families’ ability to pay tuition fees.  

In China, schools are set to hold classes in person, but testing requirements and preventive measures have delayed some school openings. The Japan Times reported that the zero-Covid policy strategy by the government means that schools face ‘unpredictable schedules’ and lockdowns will happen again if positive cases are detected.

The impact of Covid-19’s disruption to education is beginning to show in data. In the United States, maths and reading skills have dropped. Reading scores saw the largest decrease in 30 years, according to NPR. NPR also noted that ‘students of colour saw some of the steepest decreases, widening the racial education gap.’ 

Additionally, research has also begun to reveal the impact on other key areas of growth and development. For example, an Ofsted report in the UK showed decline among nursery-aged children in areas such as social integration, emotional intelligence and maturity, and physical development.