Learning Loss: Redress it, right now

A report last month said nearly eight million students across the country were at risk of learning loss due to the prolonged school closure caused by the pandemic, but the government still appears to be in the dark about the situation on the ground.

It has recently tasked the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) and the Bangladesh Examination Development Unit (BEDU) with assessing the Covid-induced academic loss of primary and secondary students. It also asked them to figure out ways to recoup the losses.

The NCTB plans to carry out its own study to learn about the educational opportunities lost by primary students due to the closure for about 18 months. The BEDU, which mainly deals with evaluations at the secondary level, is likely to have its assessment done by the end of next month, officials of the two organisations told The Daily Star.

Prof Syed Md Golam Faruk, director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), said, "We are working on analysing the learning loss. It will take time to complete the work.

"After getting the findings, we will take up programmes to recover the loss."

The term learning loss refers to any specific or general loss of knowledge and skills or to reversals in academic progress, most commonly due to extended gaps or discontinuities in a student's education, according to the UK-based education and development forum, UKFIET.

As their attention was drawn to the matter, several educationists said the government should already have completed the assessment and started taking measures.

"We did not see any initiative from the government to assess the learning loss. We need the assessment done as early as possible. Recouping the loss should be a priority of the government," Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive director of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), told The Daily Star.

Learning loss causes students to lose their skills, eventually making it hard for them to become human resources in future.

"Early and effective redress is urgently needed. Otherwise, the loss will be more severe," he warned.

On March 17 last year, the government closed schools and other educational institutions across the country to contain the spread of Covid-19. In-person classes resumed partially at the institutions this September 12 after the situation improved.

A joint study by PPRC and Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), published on October 19, said that about 22 percent of primary school students and 30 percent secondary school students surveyed were at risk of learning loss.

"It means 3.96 million primary and 3.9 million secondary students -- a total of 7.86 million students -- are at the risk of learning loss," Hossain Zillur Rahman said at the report-unveiling programme.

"As a result, the dropout rate might go higher … The decision to reopen the schools was accurate and timely, but only reopening will not be enough to recover from learning loss."

"Supplementary remedial programmes are essential for both primary and secondary level students," he had said.

The study carried out in August and September said the learning loss has worsened in six months.

In a previous study in March, PPRC and BIGD had said 5.92 million primary and secondary students in the country were at risk of learning loss because of the closure. It showed that 17 percent primary and 25 percent secondary students were at risk of learning loss in March.

The recent survey was based on telephone interviews of heads of 4,872 households and the one done in March was based on interviews of heads of 6,099 households. Both the survey covered rural and urban slum households with school-going children.

There are 2.16 crore students at 1,33,002 primary educational institutions and 1.02 crore students at 20,849 secondary schools, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics and Directorate of Primary Education.

A World Bank report, published in April, said the prolonged closure of schools is causing an education crisis that may cost Bangladesh and other South Asian countries over $1 trillion in lost earnings in the long run.

Speaking on the report, Zahid Hussain, former lead economist of the WB's Dhaka office, told The Daily Star at that time, "A Bangladeshi student may lose as much as Tk 3,000 per month as a result of lost schooling. This is a serious loss. It could increase poverty."

After closing down the educational institutions, the education ministry and primary and mass education ministry took some measures so that students did not suffer.

The ministries launched TV education programmes through state-run Sangsad television channel for secondary and primary students. Later, they asked all schools to introduce online education.

Most of the students in urban areas have access to learning through the internet, but the digital divide has so far proved to be a great disadvantage for the underprivileged learners, mainly for a lack of devices and poor access to the internet.

At the end of last year, the DSHE asked all secondary schools to start giving assignments to students.

Contacted, BEDU chief Robiul Kabir Chowdhury said an assessment on learning loss was necessary to learn about the learning gaps and figure out ways to address it.

"We are planning to hold a special test in the first week of December. About 42,000 students will sit for the test. This is how we will assess the students' learning loss.

"We hope that the assessment will be completed by the end of December."

He said they were now working on preparing the questions keeping in mind what students learned through TV and online classes and assignments given to them.

"We will also make some recommendations to address the learning gap," he said.

NCTB Chairman Prof Narayan Chandra Saha said they were planning on launching a study to know the situation on the ground regarding primary students.

"We will eventually find out ways to recover the learning loss," he added.