The Educational Divide Sophie Ho, Year 13, Wu House
Underneath the surface of a glamorised world, singing the benefits of globalisation and interconnectedness, lie preexisting inequalities entrenched in a society we no longer recognise. Propelled by political forces who seem to focus solely on financial gain, communities have been left with no choice but to succumb to the uncertainties of daily life, treading precariously on fragile ground. We have been rendered impotent against the risks of interdependence; as we wade through the inconstancy of COVID-19, more and more problems are brought to light.
Although COVID-19 has devastated the world in innumerable aspects, we must draw our attention towards the most extensive disruption of education of all time. Something that we have often taken for granted, simply glanced over as an institution, has been uprooted and tossed into an unrecognisable system of chaos. The impact of the pandemic on education systems has completely transcended geographical boundaries, affecting 1.6 billion students spanning 190 countries from all corners of the Earth. Disparities, once hidden from the eye, have been unveiled and further exacerbated by learning losses, particularly in low-income or rural areas for the most vulnerable learners. Decades of progress have been reversed, especially for girls, an already vulnerable stakeholder in the past. Many are now more vulnerable to domestic violence and child marriage, whilst some are ultimately forced to drop out of school. The socio-economic resilience of refugees and forcibly displaced children have also been eroded by deprivation, reflected in their inability to access support services, including free school meals. Altogether, this has resulted in a lost generation of approximately 23.8 million additional children who may not have access to education next year.
Figure 2 shows how the ability to respond to school closures varies according to the level of development: in the second quarter of 2020, while only 20% of children in primary education had been out of school in countries with very high human development, this number reached 86% in countries with low human development. Areas, such as the Sahel in Northern Africa, with unstable education systems due to climatic hazards and insecurity have been made worse through nationwide school closures. Students living in other places which lack basic infrastructure and electricity or contain low levels of digital literacy across the population are unable to gain connectivity to the Internet, let alone have the hardware needed for distance learning. Therefore, an educational divide can be identified between countries of different economic development. Korea, a developed high-income country, transitioned successfully to virtual learning in just a few weeks after COVID-19 hit. This was aided by KMOOCs and a digitalised curriculum that was implemented from years before, along with collaborative efforts between large corporations and the education sector. Volunteer committees of teachers have also helped coordinate central offices
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