Covid school closures in poorer countries could ‘affect this generation forever’ 

Covid school closures in poorer countries could ‘affect this generation forever’ 

Covid-19's mass school closures could "affect this generation forever“, according to emerging evidence from countries around the world showing lower test scores, a loss of key skills and a higher risk of children dropping out as a result of the pandemic. Experts have long expected the closures to have huge repercussions, but until recently, the evidence came mainly from higher income countries. Now, emerging data from low and middle income countries - where many schools have been closed for far longer - has shown even more dramatic impacts. Professor Guilherme Lichand, a Brazilian economist at the University of Zurich who has studied the impact of school closures in São Paulo, Brazil, said: "It is arguably too late already, and this generation is going to be affected forever.“ In Professor Lichand and his team's pre-print paper , they compare test scores for children in Sao Paulo's secondary schools in 2019, when children were in school, and 2020, when schools were closed. The scores fall back to levels last seen in 2011, wiping out a decade of educational progress. The results also suggest the students only learned around a quarter remotely of what they would have in person. But Professor Lichand said