Impact of system shocks on learning level and learning loss that increase social inequity

• In Event: Role of Educational Leadership in addressing learning losses and social exclusion

Proposal

Equality and ensuring social justice are essential tenets of the Bangladesh education system. Overall, the country has made significant strides in giving everybody access to basic education, however, traditional schooling has many issues including the tiered school system categorized into four forms i.e., public schools, private schools, madrasas, which incorporate general education and religious teachings, and non-formal schools, differing curriculums and the divide in English and Bangla instructions, that perpetuate social injustice and inequity in the system (Moniruzzaman, 2019). The situation gets exacerbated during external shocks such as war, conflict, and natural disasters, as education tends to be undermined in situations of uncertainty.

The pandemic is an unprecedented shock where global estimates suggest that school closures, unequal access to technology-based educational inputs, and other related disruptions have resulted in 'learning loss' and higher dropout rates, aggravating existing equity gaps in education (ASER, 2020). Bangladesh has experienced school closure of some 82 weeks – fully and partially – that disrupted the education of 37 million children, in a country where learning levels were already low and unequal (Jasim, 2022; UNICEF, 2022; Rahman & Sharma, 2021). The deficiency of nationally representative data on the levels of learning and the contributing factors threatens the road to recovery from this ‘nearly unsurmountable’ loss (Alamgir, 2021; Ahmed, 2022, Hossain & Rahman, 2022; UNICEF, 2022). In this context, to understand the impact of external shocks and provide actionable data on learning loss and learning level, the paper assesses both the learning level and loss of children through a panel study of pre- and post-pandemic data.

Research Questions:
The study is looking to answer the following research questions-
1. What are the levels of learning loss among 5–16-year-old children—nationally and among girls and children from disadvantaged backgrounds?
2. To what extent the systemic inequality such as unequal access to online and alternative education contributed to the pandemic-time learning loss?
3. To what extent the COVID-induced socioeconomic shocks contributed to the learning losses of the children?

Methodology:
IID has collected pre-pandemic baseline data on learnings using two internationally recognized and locally developed assessment tools which are being used for the panel study between pre- and post-pandemic learning loss and learning level.

Panel Study
In 2019, right before the global pandemic, IID conducted a household-level learning assessment. The data collected gave IID a unique opportunity to use the data as baseline for this longitudinal study. The study will look at the impact of shocks on learning loss and other factors through data collected in 2019 and 2022.

Assessment tools
The panel study is employing two assessment tools: ICAN - a locally rooted, globally scaled tool for the assessment of the foundational numeracy of children; and ASER literacy tool originated in India by Pratham Education Foundation which measures the foundational reading skills of children, developed collaboratively by local organizations in 13 member countries of the PAL Network. Both tools have been localized by IID for ICAN 2019 to contextualize them for Bangladesh.
The tools will used for the end-line assessment to—
a) gather evidence on learning loss among children during the pandemic, and
b) explore various socio-economic factors behind the learning loss and their relationship with the loss.

Data collection approach
The data collection for the study started with the first phase in 2019, followed Citizen-Led Assessment (CLA), that assesses the basic abilities of children in reading and arithmetic, and is based on household-based sampling, rather than school-based, to ensure the involvement of all children.

Location
This panel study is being conducted in the Jhenaidah district in the Khulna division, in the same sub-districts, and the same villages. Jhenaidah district averages are representative of the national average.

Sampling
A two-stage sample design has been employed for the study; 60 villages and 60*20=1200 households from one district. In 2019, 60 villages were randomly sampled in Stage-1 and 20 households from each of the villages in Stage-2, 893 children in the age group of 5 to 16 years were assessed, which is to be re-assessed in 2022.

Findings
IID in collaboration with BRAC conducted a pilot study using the ASER tool on the literacy levels among 791 primary school-going children which found that children’s basic learning competencies appeared to be linked with some socio-economic factors. Children from households of higher per capita income and children not involved in the family’s livelihood activities were found to have better learning competencies than those who are not engaged in such activities. The data formed the basis for further study of the link between learning levels and learning loss and factors that impact social inequity.
The 2019 study shows various levels of competencies in numeracy and literacy, in which the differences can be attributed to socio-economic factors such as family income, parents’ educational levels, and gender disparities, which the 2022 study is re-collecting. Additionally, in 2022, data on access to government interventions like remote learning through ICT services, and other socio-economic indicators that show the impact of the pandemic on learning is also being collected. The final analysis will compare the two data sets and interpret the data for use as actionable evidence for future policy decisions.

Conclusions
The learning loss from COVID-19 threatens to increase learning poverty and have a devastating impact on future productivity, earnings, and well-being of an entire generation, with a disproportionate impact on girls and children from low-income backgrounds (World Bank, 2021). The lack of evidence on learning loss and their contributing factors remains a major challenge for building resilient education systems beyond COVID-19 (Ahmed, 2022). Thus, this paper provides empirical evidence through a comparative study of pre- and post-shock learning loss on foundational literacy and numeracy skills of children aged 5-16 in Bangladesh, to provide actionable data to policymakers to take decisions on policies that are cognizant of social inequities and prepare school systems to adapt and combat situations caused by external shocks.

Authors

• Syeed Ahamed, Institute of Informatics and Development (IID)

• Kazi Ferdous Pavel, Institute of Informatics and Development (IID)