Crisis upon a crisis: COVID-19 and the education emergency

Zoe Cohen is the Secretariat Coordinator of the International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd), the first global parliamentary network dedicated to education. IPNEd seeks to grow and deepen political understanding of and commitment to inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

In mid-April 2020, 1.6 billion children and young people found their education disrupted. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools and education institutions across the world to close, leaving learners in over 190 countries to contend with severe interruptions to their education.

As countries across the world have implemented pandemic-response strategies, the return to, or continued closure of, schools has remained contentious. The International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd) has been supporting MPs to navigate the implications of COVID-19 for education. Whilst there is no zero-risk strategy for the reopening of schools, a lot can be done to ensure they are safe places to learn.

In Argentina, IPNEd member Diputada Brenda Lis Austin has led a powerful campaign for the return of face-to-face teaching 1, and on 17 February 2021 children from five of Argentina’s regional districts began to return to school for the first time in almost a year 2. In some countries, school reopening was strongly prioritised in government response plans. Sierra Leone, for example, supported by learnings from the 2014 Ebola outbreak, authorised the reopening of all schools by 5 October 2020 3

However, for millions of children, the reopening of schools does not mean a return to learning. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, 258 million children and young people were already out of school 4. Characteristics including gender, disability and ethnicity have played a significant role in children’s likelihood to attend and remain in school. Moreover, 330 million children were in school but not learning the basics 5.  

Children affected by displacement, crises and emergencies face additional and protracted obstacles to education. In 2019, over half of all school-age refugee children were out of school 6

Projections have found that the pandemic will substantially increase the number of children out of school for the first time in decades. The Malala Fund has estimated that half of refugee girls in secondary school will not return to school due to COVID-19 7.

For most children around the world, COVID-19 presented an unprecedented education emergency. For refugee and crisis-affected children, disrupted learning is commonplace. For these children, COVID-19 is a crisis upon a crisis. 

Although the global recovery from the pandemic remains unpredictable, education responses must build on lessons from COVID-19 to strengthen education system resilience, implement learner-centred remedial programmes, and retain a focus on the children left furthest behind. 

International support for and investment in Education Cannot Wait, the only global fund dedicated to education in emergencies and protracted crises, will also be crucial to securing an equitable return to learning. 

Political leadership at each of the national, regional and international levels will be vital to ensuring a sustainable recovery from COVID-19. 

IPNEd is supporting parliamentarians to champion education, reaching across political divides, regions and the world. In the National Assembly of Pakistan, for example, IPNEd Regional Representative for Asia, MNA Mehnaz Akber Aziz, has been working with her colleagues to advocate for the prioritisation of education and the furthest behind in the COVID-recovery. 

In a post-COVID world, the political will to ensure children can access learning must be redoubled. 

For marginalised children, and particularly those affected by crises and emergencies, COVID-19 has not created an education emergency, it has exacerbated a pre-existing one. 

IPNEd is working with MPs to ensure that as the world recovers from the global health crisis, the education emergency is not forgotten. 

With less than a decade left to achieve SDG 4, a generation of children may never return to school. The international community must come together and redouble our commitment to ensuring the return to school and learning truly is, for all.

1 twitter.com/brendalisaustin/status/1359294032376180738?s=20
2 batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/schools-in-argentina-finally-re-open-doors-for-students.phtml 
3 snradio.net/ministry-of-basic-education-issues-official-school-re-opening-guidelines/ 
4 uis.unesco.org/en/topic/out-school-children-and-youth 
5 report.educationcommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Learning_Generation_Full_ Report.pdf 
6 www.unhcr.org/steppingup/wp-content/uploads/sites/76/2019/09/Education-Report-2019- Final-web-9.pdf 
7 www.globalpartnership.org/blog/displacement-girls-education-and-covid-19

Article from Engage issue 22.
BY ZOE COHEN • July 9, 2021
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