Pandemic school closures inspire a Middle East e-learning revolution

Pandemic school closures inspire a Middle East e-learning revolution

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was quick to adopt and adapt to an online learning model “” even as the pandemic was at its height. Now, with economies opening up, the region has an open-ended view on school closures.

According to a UN policy brief released in August 2020, the the coronavirus outbreak has caused unprecedented disruption to education systems around the world, affecting almost 1.6 billion students in more than 190 countries. In the MENA region alone, the pandemic was responsible for shutting down learning facilities for almost 100 million students aged between 5 and 17.

Governments in the more affluent countries of the region have been quick to opt for several multi-modal approaches, mostly online, to make up for lost classroom time. Many countries