Opinion – Pablo Acosta: Systemic strategy is key to accelerating the recovery of learning in Brazil

With the high number of Covid cases, Brazil was one of the countries where schools remained closed the longest, with an average of 40 weeks, compared to the world average of 29 weeks. Even with all efforts to offer emergency remote teaching, the interruption of face-to-face classes in Brazil will have an impact on increasing the percentage of ten-year-olds who are unable to read and understand a simple text, from 48% to 70% . And we know that the impact is even more profound among the most vulnerable children and youth.

With the return to face-to-face classes, substantial learning losses are being observed in education systems around the world. South African primary school 2nd grade students had learning losses equivalent to 70%. In the Netherlands, students missed 20% of an academic year. In Brazil, the performance of students in the 5th year of elementary school in the state network of São Paulo dropped 46 points in Mathematics and 29 points in Portuguese language compared to the results of the 2019 Saeb. This is equivalent to a return to performance levels of, at least, least six years ago. Diagnostic evaluations carried out by several Brazilian states show similar results.

The impacts of the pandemic were not restricted to learning. Worldwide, cases of depression among students, school violence and early pregnancy are increasing, leading to school dropout. In Brazil, the number of children and adolescents out of school increased by 171% according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).

To mitigate the effects of the pandemic and avoid additional losses, it will be necessary to implement programs to recover learning, prevent school dropout and improve student well-being. To contribute to the recomposition of learning around the world, Unicef, Unesco and the World Bank joined forces to systematize a strategy that encompasses five essential measures:

Recover all children and keep them in school: in addition to keeping schools open, it is important to strengthen a procedure to identify students at risk of dropping out and dropping out. Successful experiences of Early Warning Systems are found in Chile, Peru and Guatemala.

Assessing learning levels regularly: Continuing to assess learning levels is important to monitor the challenges and progress of actions. Teachers must also be equipped with materials to continually assess classroom learning.

Prioritize teaching the fundamentals: dedicating more teaching time to fundamental skills, such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills, which allow for the acquisition of more complex skills.

Encouraging recomposition and progress: the differences in learning within the same class are significant and it will be necessary to adopt personalized pedagogical practices for all students, especially for those who have not acquired the fundamental skills. Personalized Tutoring (in English, Teaching at the right level), which was developed by the NGO Pratham in the 2000s and implemented in more than 16 countries, is versatile and transformative for the most vulnerable students. The intention is not to replace the teaching carried out in the classroom. The success of the program lies in the high adaptation of the teaching level to the students’ difficulties, with the use of structured materials for this purpose.

Development of psychosocial health and well-being: it is important to take stock of the needs and resources available in different sectors, including teacher training. Communication campaigns, including community messages about Covid-19 and mental health, can contribute to the school’s engagement with families in building a support network for students.

Learning recovery will not happen without support for teachers. The new challenges will require that teachers are even more receptive to the needs of students and it is essential to train teachers to deal with these challenges and support them in the development of digital skills. More than ever, teacher training needs to be practical and focused on activities that answer teachers’ questions and solve the difficulties present in their immediate daily lives.

Around the world, several countries are starting to implement policies to address the impacts of the pandemic on education. And Brazil took the lead with the recent launch of the National Policy for the Recovery of Learning, prepared by the Ministry of Education, in consultation with state and municipal networks. Among the initiatives, the following stand out: development of a Preventive Alert System and a platform for Personalized Learning Monitoring, with the availability of diagnostic tests on the Saeb scale for groups of students; structured teaching materials and financial resources to pay the monitors. To further strengthen assistance to the most vulnerable in learning recovery, states and municipalities in the North and Northeast are being focused on Ministry of Education programs, including funding from the World Bank.

Without immediate political action, the impacts of the pandemic could last for generations. It is necessary to act with evidence-based policies and cooperation between federative entities, to transform the crisis into an opportunity and build more inclusive, efficient and equitable education systems. Brazil has already taken the first step in this direction.

This column was written in collaboration with my colleagues at the World Bank education experts Leandro Costa, senior economist, and Fátima Alves, consultant.