How the pandemic caused a lasting blow to children’s learning

Children have lost about a third of a normal school year’s learning since the COVID-19 pandemic began, scientists said in a wide-ranging international analysis published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Human Behavior. The deficit was greatest in math and hit young people from disadvantaged backgrounds the hardest.

The pandemic triggered one of the biggest learning disorders in history, the scientists said, citing the impact of World War II, as well as more recent upheaval, to conclude that learning deficits tend to endure.

School closures were the main culprit, but not the only one, they said, pointing to the effect of pandemic restrictions on children’s ability to play, meet others and participate in extracurricular activities.

Students continued to show a delay in expected learning progress well into last year, along with a loss of skills and knowledge that clouded their future.

“Education is one of the key factors, if not the main one, in children’s transition from school to work, their success in the labor market, their success in building their own livelihoodsaid Bastian Betthäuser, assistant professor of sociology at Sciences Po in France, and one of the study’s authors. “This could be a real problem for this generation.”.

The research was a meta-analysis, meaning the scientists reviewed more than 40 studies in 15 high- and middle-income countries, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Due to lack of data, they were unable to assess the impact in low-income countries.

The analysis showed no evidence of variation in learning deficits between grades, and it’s unclear if there were differences between elementary and high school students, according to the scientists.