Global estimates of the implications of COVID‐19‐related preprimary school closures for children’s instructional access, development, learning, and economic wellbeing

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the health and wellbeing of millions of children around the world. Beyond the direct clinical impacts of COVID-19, measures to contain the spread of disease have left nearly 1.6 billion preprimary through post-secondary students-more than 90% of those enrolled-at least

MITIGATING THE 4th WAVE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN ONTARIO

“…In-person education is an essential priority for the overall wellbeing, psychosocial development, and educational development of children [1,67,68], but it also increases the absolute number of contacts for children. School-based policies such as student cohorts, small class sizes, improved ventilation, routine testing, and vaccine mandates for teachers and staff can reduce in-school transmission [68,69].…”

The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on child and adolescent development around the world

“…McCoy et al ( 2021 ) address a topic that is similarly as prone to speculation as electronic media use during the pandemic—specifically understanding how closures in early childhood education settings are likely to have impacted learning, and what the economic consequences of the estimated learning loss are likely to be. The authors employ simulation analyses using pre‐pandemic data from 196 countries that maintain national datasets on early childhood education.…”

Not in the same boat

“…While we document and analyze the impact of the pandemic on families, of at least as much and likely more concern is what it will mean for the future of this generation. McCoy et al ( 2021 ) map out a truly bleak set of predictions based on well‐designed simulations. But these are based on past behavior and policies.…”

“…The papers are only bound together by two commonalities, COVID‐19 and children. From there they cover a wide range of territory and methods from a simulation of learning and earning loss because of school closures by McCoy et al ( 2021 ) to the ways that indigenous Yucatec Mayan culture shielded children from the social disruptions experienced due to lockdowns by Alcala, Gaskins and Richland ( 2021 ). That said there are commons themes that can be highlighted.…”