The likely impact of COVID-19 on
education: Reflections based on the
existing literature and recent
international datasets

What is the impact of COVID-19 on education?
- Student learning is expected, on average, to suffer a setback;
- Although online learning has a lot of potential37, it is more effective when students and teachers have had the time to prepare and get used to it and schools have had the time to test its implementation. Unfortunately, in many cases, this did not happen as COVID-19 forced all educational institutions to make a sudden switch to online learning.
The results of a School Education Gateway survey38, which was conducted between 9 April and 10 May 2020 and attracted 4,859 respondents from more than 40 countries (of whom 86% were teachers or school heads), show that, following COVID-19, the majority of teachers (66.9%) had to teach online for the first time.
Additionally, many teachers had problems in accessing technology.
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