How African countries can reform education to get ahead after pandemic school closures
THE COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a historic shock to education, shuttering schools for over 1.6 billion children worldwide. This shock will worsen a pre-existing “learning crisis” in which many students in school were learning very little. The World Bank estimates that the percentage of children who are unable to read a simple sentence by age 10 could rise from 53% before the pandemic to 63% as a result of school closures. NOAM ANGRIST, Executive Director, Young 1ove, Fellow, University of Oxford These learning losses could stem from a combination of things: forgetting what was previously known, and missing what…