 Pupils in New York, US, go back to school. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
Meanwhile, only one-third of countries, mainly high-income nations, are taking steps to measure learning losses at the primary and lower-secondary levels.
In total, 142 countries participated in the survey, which covers the period from February to May of this year, and spans four levels of education, from pre-primary through upper secondary schooling. Fewer than a third of low and middle-income countries reported that all students had returned to in-person schooling.
The survey shows that most countries have encouraged students to return to school through measures such as community engagement, school-based tracking, financial incentives and improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene services.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the study of more than 1.7 billion pupils and students in 192 countries. So far nearly half of pupils worldwide have been affected because of school closure.
