COVID-19: Youth and Education - Impacts and Options (Briefing Note n°12)

This is the twelfth note produced by the COVID-19 Observatory. It presents our analysis on the impacts of COVID-19 on the education sector, and the challenges surrounding the support of this sector in “post-COVID” strategies.

In rich and poor countries alike, COVID-19 has significantly impacted education systems. Within days, schools and universities closed in many countries around the world, leaving pupils and students, but also parents and teachers, facing major challenges. Differences in the economic levels of countries, the energy and telecommunication capacities, the skills of teachers and the dynamism of educational teams have led to the emergence of a highly heterogeneous map of how this educational crisis has been handled, with a deepening of divides between countries and an increase in the social inequalities surrounding education. Often, in the aftermath of a conflict, we often referred to a "lost generation", referring to the youth deprived of education by war in the countries concerned. This time, the problem is not militaristic but biological, and is indeed global in scope. This 12th note from the COVID-19 Observatory highlights our analysis of the situation, and proposes actions to be taken in the face of this rather demoralizing diagnosis.