ERIC Number: EJ1417323
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1523-1615
Primary School Learning in Sub-Saharan Africa during COVID-19: A Scoping Review of Responses and Recovery Initiatives Induced
Brenda Wawire; Adrienne Barnes-Story; Elisheba Kiru; Sungkyum Kim
Current Issues in Comparative Education, v25 n1 p25-50 2023
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions in education. School closures quickly followed the onset of the pandemic to contain the spread of the virus, forcing millions of students out of their regular academic calendars. Countries put in place interventions aimed to reduce the deleterious effects of school closures and disruptions in learning. For instance, many countries used various mediums to provide students with distance learning. This scoping review examines the interventions that education systems in low- and middle-income Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries (LMIC) implemented to mitigate learning loss in reading and writing skills among early grade learners (i.e., children attending primary schools) and discusses the reach of those programs. This review highlights the proportion of students reached by the targeted mitigation measures, revealing that LMIC countries in SSA provided students with remote learning opportunities through radio and television programming, provided teachers with professional development on the use of novel tools, and provided parents and families with support to help learners at home. However, these disruptions affected the traditional assessment methods. Various assessment methods were implemented to measure student progress, but there is a need for appropriate progress monitoring tools and accurate data to measure the effectiveness of the interventions. Many LMIC implemented Return-to-School policy frameworks, processes, and principles that ensured safe learning continuity.
Descriptors: Elementary School Students, Foreign Countries, COVID-19, Pandemics, Distance Education, Electronic Learning
Teachers College, Columbia University. International and Transcultural Studies, P.O. Box 211, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. e-mail: info@cicejournal.org; Web site: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/cice
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Information Analyses
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A