The Logical Indian Crew

Only Half Of Schools Globally Gone Back To Classroom Learning, 34% in Hybrid Mode: UNICEF

The inferences were made by a collaborative effort of UNICEF, John Hopkins University and World Bank, who created a tracker called 'COVID-19 Global Education Recovery Tracker' to facilitate post-pandemic recovery in over 200 countries.

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A collaborative effort made by the UNICEF, the World Bank and John Hopkins University stated that only half of the schools around the world have resumed the usual classroom leaving post COVID-19, while many others are still imparting education remotely or are on an extended break. Along with this, 34% of schools globally are in hybrid mode, where there is remote as well as in-person teaching.

The inferences were made and published in the 'COVID-19 Global Education Recovery Tracker' that has collated data from over 200 countries. The aim behind this is to is see and understand the trend being followed to reopen schools everywhere after they were forcibly shut down due to the pandemic.

Numbers Say It All

The tracker shows visualisations of various kinds, ranging from 'school status/education modality' to 'vaccine access for teachers and support staff'. In the former, almost 80% of schools around the world have resumed. However, only 54% have actually started calling children back to school to resume in-person class training. Some of those countries are the United States (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Poland, Russia, China, Turkey, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, etc.

When it comes to the hybrid model, it is proving to be quite popular not just in offices, but in schools as well. 34% of educational institutions are running this way as they have evenly divided classroom instruction and remote online learning. This list includes Afghanistan, Thailand, Mongolia etc.

Some countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Indonesia, etc where the combination of hybrid, remote learning, in-person is working at the moment, along with some schools still being closed at the moment.

Bangladesh is the only country from the Indian subcontinent that forms the 10% of countries indulging in remote learning along with Venezuela, Honduras, Mali, Chad, Spain etc. A small chunk are still on an extended break and 2% of the data is not provided.

The Vaccination Dilemma

In countries where schools are yet to resume, questions are being raised about whether to do so only when the entire population is vaccinated. As stated in The Hindu, The World Bank asked countries to not wait for this long to reopen schools and start doing so in a phased manner. "To promote education recovery, teachers should be prioritised for vaccination where possible, while recognising that there are ways to reopen safely without vaccination through adequate measures," said the recommendation.

The tracker's visualisation about vaccine access to teachers and other school staff showed some countries having limited supplies while many others had enough to give them priority.

The report further emphasised the dire need for reopening schools at the moment when the COVID-19 transmissions are low. "Keeping schools closed until all staff can be vaccinated results in very little benefit in terms of reduced risk of transmission but potentially generates substantial costs for children," it said.

Citing the low susceptibility rates in young children, the World Bank believes that everyone is very much aware about the risks and mitigation techniques for the deadly virus and WHO still recommends that closing down schools should be the last resort.

Also Read: Students In 1.1 Lakh Schools Across India Taught by Only One Teacher: UNESCO Report

Contributors Suggest Correction
Writer : Akanksha Saxena
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Editor : Ankita Singh
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Creatives : Akanksha Saxena

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