Consequences of school closure on access to education

Lessons from the 2013-2016 Ebola pandemic

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4198286
AutoresW C Smith (0000-0002-5396-9769, University of Edinburgh, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen67
Número1-2
Páginas53-78
Fecha de publicación2021-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Review of Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-8566 • E-ISSN: 1573-0638
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11159-021-09900-2
PMID33935296
OpenAlexW3158696668
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas24
Referencias citadas36

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen an unprecedented shutdown of society. Among the various safety measures taken, much attention has been given to school closure as a non-pharmaceutical mitigation tool to curb the spread of the disease through ensuring "social" (physical) distancing. Nearly 1.725 billion children in over 95% of countries worldwide have been affected by school closures implemented in April 2020 as the virus continued to spread. In the field of education, policymakers' attention has been directed at keeping students on board through remote learning and addressing the immediate needs of schools upon reopening. The study presented in this article focuses on who remains absent after schools resume. Using publicly available survey data from the USAID Demographic Health Surveys Program and the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey from before and after the 2013-2016 Ebola pandemic in Guinea and Sierra Leone in West Africa, the author examined changes in school enrolment and dropout patterns, with targeted consideration given to traditionally marginalised groups. At the time, schools closed for between seven to nine months in the two countries; this length and intensity makes this Ebola pandemic the only health crisis in the recent past to come close to the pandemic-related school closures experienced in 2020. The author's findings suggest that post-Ebola, youth in the poorest households saw the largest increase in school dropout. Exceeding expected pre-Ebola dropout rates, an additional 17,400 of the poorest secondary-age youth were out of school. This evidence is important for minimising the likely post-COVID-19 expansion in inequality. The author's findings point to the need for sustainable planning that looks beyond the reopening of educational institutions to include comprehensive financial support packages for groups most likely to be affected

Closure (psychology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Disease · Ebola virus · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Infectious disease (medical specialty · Outbreak · Pandemic · Political science · Sierra leone · Social distance · Socioeconomics · Sociology · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Medicine · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research · Virology