Rethinking Global Education in the Global Learning Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered one of the largest education crises in modern history. Its disruption to societies and economies deepened long-standing concerns about global education. According to the World Bank, in developing countries, learning poverty—the inability of a child to read and understand a simple text by age 10—rose sharply from 57% to 70% during the pandemic years. By 2025, this translates into a projected loss of $21 trillion in lifetime earnings for today’s students—equivalent to 17% of the world’s current GDP. If these learning losses remain unrecovered, they risk locking in deeper inequalities and undermining the future workforce.

STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING RECOVERY

A strategy dedicated specifically toward the recovery of learning can significantly increase the efficiency and success of efforts. Implementing the RAPID framework from the World Bank, a menu of options for countries to use aid in the recovery and acceleration of learning, is one of the options. The framework focuses on reaching, assessing, prioritizing, increasing, and developing key areas within the education system. These include prioritizing the fundamentals, efficiency of instruction, regular assessment, and psycho-social health and well-being, as follows:

R: Reach every child and keep them in school. The first point of attention focuses on ensuring that all children and families are encouraged to go back to school. Using back-to-school campaigns or family outreach and early warning systems allows government bodies to inform individuals about the importance of education. Regulations and policies can also be implemented to aid either the transition back to school or to make entering the education system less challenging for some demographics, such as eliminating school fees, cash transfers, and school feeding programs.

A: Assess learning levels regularly. To maximize the efficiency of the school curriculum, measurements of children's current learning levels should be taken regularly, especially after returning to school after social distancing. This helps teachers and other educators effectively gauge the class level and target their instruction to each level.

P: Prioritize teaching the fundamentals. Specifically, learning recovery efforts should be focused on the essential missed content, prioritizing foundational skills within the student body. Topics and skills such as literacy and numeracy are needed for students to learn in everyday life.

I: Increase the efficiency of instruction. Instructors are the unsung heroes, particularly since they have had to cope with the unpredictable factor that the COVID-19 pandemic has played. For education to resume as quickly and as effectively as possible, adopting effective teaching practices is absolutely vital. Re-strategizing teaching can aid in making teachers' efforts more cost-effective.

D: Develop psychosocial health and well-being. Mental health is often overlooked in the school system; however, it can have massive effects on the student's ability to absorb knowledge. Ensuring that schools are safe spaces where children are physically and mentally nurtured, away from violence, and have access to essential services is a small but crucial aspect.

MORE SOLUTIONS IN THE WORK

Apart from the RAPID scheme, the World Bank and UNESCO are now partnering to strengthen learning assessment systems through the LeAP (Learning Assessment Platform) initiative, which aims to reduce worldwide learning poverty by at least 50% by 2030. The program seeks to garner investment to fund a well-rounded socio-economical environment to help improve education outcomes. Currently, the World Bank, working with the READ Trust Fund program, has helped secure more than $200 million in learning assessment system improvement grants for 12 countries. Additionally, UNESCO itself is implementing civil service reform recommendations for UN member countries to enhance public service management by creating broader national coalitions for learning recovery.

The challenge in 2025 is not just recovering what was lost but building more resilient education systems for the future. Every additional year of unrecovered learning compounds long-term social and economic costs, while every investment in recovery pays back in higher productivity, better jobs, and more equitable societies. Learning poverty remains one of the most pressing risks to future development. Moving toward a better outlook of education is possible, but only when national and international organizations and the rest of society contribute to learning recovery through concrete, tangible actions.

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