A new EU report presents evidence on Covid-19’s impact on school learning outcomes and proposes policy actions to address it.
The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted education systems worldwide, forcing schools to close and transitioning to online learning. As a result, the quality of education has been adversely affected, and students’ learning outcomes have suffered. A new report by the European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE) has analysed the impact of the pandemic on school learning outcomes across the EU. The network is funded by Erasmus+ and advises the European Commission with an economic perspective on education policy.
The report provides evidence-based insights into the effects of the pandemic on students’ academic performance, which vary by country and socio-economic status. It reveals that disadvantaged students are more likely to experience a decline in their learning outcomes, widening the achievement gap. By contrast, there is no clear evidence of different effects across genders.
The report draws findings for Switzerland from a study conducted by Tomasik et al. (2021) in Switzerland that evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. It found that primary school students’ learning progress was twice as fast during in-person teaching compared with remote learning, while secondary school students did not report significant differences between in-person and remote learning. The results are consistent with findings in other European countries, which show that younger pupils were more affected than older ones. However, it is difficult to compare Switzerland’s results with those from other European countries due to differences in methodology.
The report suggests several policy recommendations to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on education. One recommendation is to provide targeted support to disadvantaged students and those with special needs. This includes providing access to digital devices and internet connectivity, extra tutoring or summer schools, and other educational resources, with a particular view of compensating and catching-up with the missed learning outcomes. Another recommendation is to improve the quality of online teaching and learning. This can be achieved by training teachers on effective online teaching strategies, providing guidelines and standards for online learning, and enhancing the use of digital technology in education. This is in line with the EU’s Digital Education Action Plan (DEAP).
The report also emphasises the importance of investing in education to build resilience to future crises. This includes investing in teacher training, improving educational infrastructure, and increasing funding for education. In order to support national investments for that purpose, the EU set up the Recovery and Resilience Facility which makes more than €70 billion available of further investments in education and training in the EU (see SwissCore article).
In conclusion, the report provides valuable insights into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on school learning outcomes and policy recommendations to mitigate its negative effects. It shows the importance of compensating the lost learning in the short- and long-term and investing in education to build a more resilient and equitable education system.