Education in the Time of COVID-19 #046 – Duraiappah
CEID Blogger4 March 2021COVID-19: Will it be a game changer for Education?
By Dr. Anantha K. Duraiappah, Director, UNESCO MGIEP
The first pandemic of the 21st century practically crippled the world, bringing it to a complete standstill. It is not the disease itself that caused the shutdown but the policies implemented to curb the spread of the disease. Travel, trade, manufacturing and service sectors were all shutdown. Lockdowns, confinements and social distancing practically made our present economic and social systems inoperable. The education sector was not spared either. UNESCO estimates that about 1.2 billion students from over 140 countries as of March 2020 were out of school. The situation has not really improved since then about 12 months later.