Covid-19 was a disaster for the world’s schoolchildren

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Covid-19 was a disaster for the world’s schoolchildren

The Economist | December 5, 2023

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Every three years for the past two decades analysts at the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, have asked pupils in dozens of places to take tests in reading, maths and science, the better to compare the quality of their schools. No one was expecting the latest round of exams, sat a year late in 2022 after years of pandemic-induced disruption, to bring good news. But the results, released on December 5th, are still a blow. An average teenager in the rich world is found to have fallen about six months behind in reading and nine months behind in maths, compared with peers who sat similar tests in 2018. In several rich countries 15-year-olds are performing at levels that back then would have been expected of learners a full year younger.

These findings are all the gloomier because of the discouraging trends that preceded them. Years of international testing suggest that, when the pandemic struck, typical teenagers in the rich world were no more numerate than those schooled some 20 years earlier. In reading and science, average scores have been drifting down for a decade, according to the OECD’s yardstick, even though spending has been going up. So there are good reasons to think that grades in the latest exams (often known as the PISA tests) might have slipped even without the turmoil of covid-19.

The sombre school report should rally governments to accomplish two tasks. The first is to renew pandemic “catch-up” programmes, for which energy and funding is beginning to flag even though the job is far from complete.  Governments’ second task is to turn around the disheartening long-term trends. International tests offer clues about what works and what does not. Cutting class sizes is often a waste of money; having high-quality teachers matters more. Education budgets could be better focused.

Neverending disruptions during the pandemic were bad for learning. Schoolchildren must not be let down once again.  All the more reason to regret that politicians are focusing their energies elsewhere. 

3 key takeaways from the article

1. Every three years for the past two decades analysts at the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, have asked pupils in dozens of places to take tests in reading, maths and science, the better to compare the quality of their schools (often known as the PISA tests). According to the results an average teenager in the rich world is found to have fallen about six months behind in reading and nine months behind in maths, compared with peers who sat similar tests in 2018.
2. These findings are all the gloomier because of the discouraging trends that preceded them.  There are good reasons to think that grades in the latest exams might have slipped even without the turmoil of covid-19.
3. The sombre school report should rally governments to accomplish two tasks. The first is to renew pandemic “catch-up” programmes.  Governments’ second task is to turn around the disheartening long-term trends.

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Topics: Education, Learning, Covid-19