A Call to Action on Learning Loss

The World Bank calls for action to Latin America and the Caribbean to act now to protect students’ human capital.

Last week we wrote about how COVID-19 has left education in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on the verge of what the World Bank describes as an “educational tragedy” due to the loss of learning in the region. After evaluating almost twelve months of school closures in LAC, they consider that the pandemic “could jeopardize the advances in human capital mentioned above and, above all, exacerbate the losses in the accumulation of human capital of millions of children and girls, with impacts on future levels of productivity.

The main points the analysis establishes are that initial estimates of school closures are overwhelming. If the pandemic has shown anything, distance education cannot replace face-to-face teaching, mainly if it arises from an emergency and there was no time to prepare before remote classes. This made the learning metrics drastically worse. In addition, school systems must be prepared for the reopening of classrooms and invest in the necessary resources to recover the learning loss of their students while following all recommendations to prevent further infections. The pandemic opened a window of possibilities to rebuild the education system to make it more “effective, equitable and resilient,” so institutions must focus on public financing and start exploring different options to make education more efficient in the long term.

A call to action

Learning loss due to school closures can be lessened if LAC governments urgently address the various problems that education systems face to maintain continuity, participation, and quality. The World Bank emphasizes that “it is important to remember that the search for improvement should not be done only to face the current situation but also to prepare or improve hybrid education, in which face-to-face education and distance education coexist in the same schools.” The organization suggests going beyond creating emergency initiatives and thinking about how to “adapt, improve and adopt these measures for the long term to create more inclusive, effective and resilient education systems.” To achieve these goals, the World Bank begins by saying that it is necessary to “confront the pandemic during school closures.” Although many institutions have already opened their doors, the situation continues to be highly changing, so they should not rule out the closure of schools yet.

One of the biggest challenges is to retain students in schools and improve the effectiveness of remote education, which is why the organization suggests combining information collection mechanisms, either remotely or in-person, either by phone call or text messages or doing interviews or surveys. Several countries have implemented systems to monitor individual students during the pandemic to identify those most at risk of dropping out. When this monitoring is not possible, it is best to involve families. In the report, the World Bank found that the intervention of families reduces school dropout by 77% and the lack of motivation to return to school by 44%.

One strategy to retain students is through communication campaigns where information is given on accessing educational content and the importance of staying in school. Peru and Uruguay, for example, regularly presented information on what their distance education institutions offer, reaching more than 85% of the student population. Sometimes students do not return for financial reasons, so the education system should consider providing financial support for those at risk. 61% of LAC countries have focused their reliance on the psychological aspect, and less than 40% offer economic measures. The Dominican Republic has the “Bono Estudio Contigo” program that partially subsidizes the cost of enrollment for 30,000 low-income students in different private universities. These types of measures are essential to mitigate school dropouts and reduce inequalities.

Continuing to find ways to support the underprivileged to receive a quality education, even from a distance, should be a priority throughout the region. Returning to the Dominican Republic, 41% of students received less than two hours of instruction per day during school closures, leaving a significant learning loss. To avoid these types of cases, low-tech alternatives must be offered to eradicate digital divides, especially when schools close or when students have to return to learning online due to instances of COVID-19 in classrooms. At the same time, they must strive to continue to engage students, ensuring that they have the skills and motivation to continue learning regardless of whether the classes are face-to-face or not.

According to the World Bank, there are five strategies to avoid learning loss:

1. Multimodal solutions with specific strategies to reach and support all students, including those from less privileged groups.

2. Involve families and teachers through interactive communication strategies.

3. Train teachers.

4. Give priority to the resume.

5. Learning assessment strategies.

In addition, countries must continue developing, especially in EdTech issues, and continue efforts for the effective participation of students. Although involving families is of paramount importance, it is necessary to continue developing teachers’ digital and pedagogical skills to counteract learning loss, especially in vulnerable groups. The training programs they take should focus on digital tools and how to develop pedagogical skills required to ensure that students receive a quality education regardless of whether the class is face-to-face or not.

Manage continuity and recover learning during the reopening of schools

Governments must continue to ensure that institutions are ready to open their doors safely and effectively. The report mentions that most LAC countries have begun the reopening process somehow; doing so is a “complex decision that must be based on public health data.” The public health system needs to collaborate with the education system to have all the information necessary to decide whether to reopen its doors or not.

The World Bank, together with other organizations, prepared guidelines on the critical criteria to open schools, which has allowed them to identify six strategies that do work; policies and financing, which are transversal to the other four: safe operation, learning, the inclusion of the most marginalized, well-being and protection. UNICEF identified 24 of the 36 LAC countries and territories that already have protocols for the safe return to schools, including general aspects of health and hygiene. Still, how each country and the local government implements these protocols should be monitored and how they are enforced.

Ongoing communication and support to the educational community will help address concerns, learn new ideas, and determine if they agree with the reopening and how health protocols will be carried out. It is best to have communication strategies with the authorities to answer questions more clearly. According to UNICEF, 85% of the countries in the region have some promotion and communication
strategy for reopening. It is also essential to consider that most students have experienced learning loss. They went through a different learning process due to family dynamics, economic resources, or lack of digital tools. Teachers must consider this and think of effective strategies to adapt their classes to students’ individual needs. The report suggests simplifying study programs, modifying the school calendar, and suspending final exams as “necessary measures to adapt teaching and learning to the new reality.”

Simplifying the curriculum helps manage uncertainty and facilitate learning. Some LAC countries focused on teaching only part of the content to ensure “educational continuity.” Others decided to cover a certain percentage based on what they taught before the first closure in 2020. Mexico, for example, covered 25% of the curriculum for each educational level as estimated that they had already taught 75% by the time schools were closed.

Another way to compensate for learning losses is by adapting the academic calendar. During the closure, countries modified their calendars to have more time to prepare for distance education, reducing or increasing vacations. In the Dominican Republic, distance education began almost three months later than the calendar said, as they decided to train teachers to adapt and create digital educational content before starting to teach remotely. For reopening, a learning loss assessment should be conducted as soon as possible to learn the current status of students. Next, create well-designed models to address the crisis, focusing on the learning gap between the better-off and the most vulnerable.

Another critical factor in the return to school is hybrid education since it seems that it has become the “new normal.” Some families still do not feel safe sending their children; others worry about the rising cases or a kid-tested positive, and the classmates had to be sent home. Although these models take advantage of different technologies, hybrid education must consider that younger students need more support from their families and how to lighten their load.

These models can be a massive burden for teachers, principals, students, and families as they all need more support. In the case of educators, they face pedagogical and logistical challenges in adapting to the two ways of teaching. On the other hand, the planning and reorganization of hybrid education often fall to directors who often have little or no experience in the subject. They also need training in logistical elements such as organizing schedules and the program’s pedagogical approach. Their decision-making determines whether or not the adverse effects of school closures will be migrated.

On the other hand, during the pandemic, students, families, and teachers have faced difficult times that have seriously affected their well-being and mental health. Many countries have expanded various social protection programs to support and retain students, from offering financial support for families with cash transfers or scholarships to mental and psychosocial health to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. The report recommends that measures help distance education include:

• Defining specific times for online sessions.

• Completing homework assignments.

• Encouraging outdoor activities.

• Having good communication with the community.

Drive improvements and acceleration for the long term

The COVID-19 crisis resulted in an opportunity to transform the education sector into inclusive and accessible to everyone, regardless of whether schools are open or closed. Before the pandemic, the region was already facing the challenge that its education systems were not centralized in students’ learning. The closure of schools only exacerbated the problem, making “the ‘recovery of learning’ is simply not enough in LAC, especially in some countries where the majority of students were not mastering basic concepts,” says the report. And although many schools are already opening, families’ fundamental role in motivating their children to continue studying should not be forgotten. This connection created with them should not be released, so educational systems should support them by providing ideas, information, material, and alternatives to continue helping their sons and daughters using multimodal strategies.

On the other hand, many young people had to give up their studies to support their families financially, so the World Bank proposes creating short-cycle programs of two or three years. This type of proposal only exists in 9% of enrollments in the region, compared to 34% worldwide. These initiatives have shown to have high rates of return and improve the employability results of the students since it gives them valid certification.

Although the pandemic created the greatest crisis in history for education systems in the region, as mentioned several times, it has opened up an excellent opportunity to make changes, primarily to address digital divides. The area must take advantage of innovative pedagogical solutions and the potential of EdTech to develop a better educational system, especially the use of data since it opens the door to improve the learning process through the analysis and monitoring of information. The report concludes that “the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have made commendable efforts on many fronts, but we could witness an educational tragedy never seen before in the coming years if the countries do not act quickly and more comprehensively. The great gains in the human capital of recent decades could be erased. But worse still, these losses could become permanent, eventually damaging the opportunities of an entire generation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The time to act is now.”

Translation by Daniel Wetta

Paulette Delgado

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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0