learning inequalities between groups. Recent analysis by <u>Moscoviz and Evans (2022)</u> suggests that learning losses are concentrated primarily among children from poorer households. <mark>A US study found larger declines in math and reading among historically marginalized and economically disadvantaged peers across grade levels 3 to 8 (Lewis et al. 2021). For example, grade 8 students in high-poverty schools showed both lower percentile rank, and a larger decrease in their growth percentile rank during COVID-19 than did peers in lowpoverty schools. In the United Kingdom, the gap in learning loss between disadvantaged secondary pupils and their more affluent peers was around 1.6 months (Education Policy Institute and Renaissance Learning</mark> <u><mark>2021).</mark></u> The <u>MILO report</u> raises important <mark>questions about the proportion of students who were already below the minimum proficiency level pre-pandemic, whose learning losses are hard to observe using measures focusing on children above the minimum proficiency threshold (UNESCO 2022).</mark>

# Planning for School Reopening

Reopening schools and keeping them opened is crucial. Since October 2021, more countries have been fully or partially open, with only a few countries remaining fully closed. School closures have massive effects in terms of not only learning outcomes but also future earnings outcomes of today’s students. For example, the difference in global lifetime earning losses between the “intermediate” and “pessimistic” scenarios is $2.2 trillion. Both scenarios assume the same level of mitigation effectiveness, so the only difference is in the share of the school system assumed to be closed, which demonstrates the high economic cost of school closures. Therefore, reopening schools and keeping them open should be the top priority for countries, as growing evidence indicates that with adequate measures, health risks to children and education staff can be minimized (World Bank 2021).

Beyond their effects on measured learning, school closures have exacerbated the socio-emotional losses experienced by children. Children spend a substantial amount of time interacting with their classmates and teachers when schools are open, and the loss of this interaction has costs. School closures have also affected services essential for children’s development, including school feeding, safety, and psychosocial support. Reopening schools and supporting them to provide comprehensive services promoting the wellbeing and mental health of children should be a priority for countries.

# How Can Education Systems Recover Learning?

Given the large simulated and empirical learning losses across a wide range of contexts, as captured through changes in Learning Poverty, LAYS, and PISA, countries’ education strategies should now focus on learning recovery and acceleration. Education systems need to be able to adapt rapidly to mitigate the long-term effects of school closures and learning losses. Reopening schools will need to be accompanied by learning recovery strategies to help children catch up—for example, by consolidating the curriculum so that teachers prioritize the essential material that students missed during school closures, or by increasing instructional time by extending the school time or modifying the academic calendar. The RAPID framework by UNESCO, <u>UNICEF, and the World Bank (2022)</u> emphasizes five key actions for learning recovery:

- Reach and retain every child

- Assess learning levels

- Prioritize teaching foundational skills

- Increase catch-up learning and increase instructional time

- Develop psychosocial health and well-being

Reducing inequalities should be an important part of this approach. As discussed in <u>World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF (2021), COVID-19 has exacerbated inequalities across a variety of dimensions. School closures</u> have lasted longer in low- and middle-income countries compared to high-income countries. Within 21