LEARNING RECOVERY AFTER COVID-19 IN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA: Policy and Practice Europe and Central Asia Education World Bank Group © 2021 The World Bank This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contribu- tions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work 1818 H Street NW, do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Washington DC 20433 Directors, or the governments they represent. Telephone: 202-473-1000; The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the data included in this work and does not assume responsibility for any errors, Internet: www.worldbank.org omissions, or discrepancies in the information, or liability with respect to the use of or failure to use the information, methods, processes, or conclusions set forth. 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Cover photo: Romanian students in the summer bridge program from Romanian Secondary Education Project. © Ministry of Education of Romania/ Unit for the Management of Externally Financed Projects (UMPFE). Used with the permission of UMPFE/ Ministry of Education of Romania Cover page and document design: © Elizaveta Tarasova / ET-digital LEARNING RECOVERY AFTER COVID-19 IN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA: Policy and Practice Gustavo Arcia Rafael de Hoyos Harry Patrinos Alina Sava Tigran Shmis Janssen Teixeira Produced under the supervision of Fadia Saadah, Director, Human Development, ECA; with inputs from the ECA Education Team. The vision of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Education Team is for education systems to empower all people to reach their full potential. In line with this vision, the purpose of this guidance note is to provide decision-makers with some recommendations and policy advice on effective ways to respond to the education losses engendered by the COVID-19 crisis. These recommendations include specific measures for mitigating learning losses and preparing for school reopening. The note also discusses the opportunity to design and implement structural reforms to make education systems more resilient and, in the process, improve students’ educational performance. Recommendations are also given for longer-term actions with the potential to transform education by strengthening learning and improving learning equity in the future. Summary The Europe and Central include modifications to the classroom infrastructure, Asia education team’s vision is for education sys- to reduce contagion and maintain student health, and tems to empower all to reach their full potential. The provide equal access to digital and hybrid modes of COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity to restruc- instruction. ture educational practices to incorporate valuable les- sons from remote learning and develop new strategies Improving and accelerating education results past the for improving student learning and learning equity. crisis stage requires monitoring learning recovery to This note presents design and implementation details continuously revise policies, programs, and infrastruc- for a learning recovery plan for the Europe and Central ture to improve learning outcomes. It also implies Asia (ECA) region. The learning recovery plan includes investing in technology infrastructure to improve three stages: (i) Coping with the closing of schools access to digital instruction, and to ensure learning through remote learning, instructional and psychoso- equity. To that end, this stage of the learning recovery cial support, and compensatory programs for prevent- plan should: (i) Identify and treat students with low ing learning losses; (ii) Managing Continuity where reo- learning and improve their access to quality education; pened schools focus on providing foundational skills in (ii) Define clear equity goals and allocate budgets and language, math, and science to reduce learning loss and personnel accordingly; (iii) Implement teacher support to improve learning among minorities and the poor; and innovations for hybrid instruction; (iv) invest in and (iii) Improving and Accelerating learning, by mak- internet access and in digital infrastructure and peda- ing schools more resilient and equitable through edu- gogy; (v) Promote a climate of educational innovation cational innovations that include the lessons learned for improving hybrid/blended methods of education from remote instruction during the pandemic, and delivery and (vi) Continuously monitor and evaluate where the entire system is evaluated for results. impacts to ensure the delivery of quality education and the improvement of learning equity. Coping with school closures means that governments should ensure access to digital learning by minori- The disruption brought by the COVID-19 crisis ties and students in poverty, and that the reopening affected the entire education ecosystem, creating the of schools should be pursued as soon as it is feasible. need for a revolution requiring immediate policy shifts Managing the continuity of learning means that reo- and innovations to develop a new hybrid model of pening of schools—a key step in recovering learn- learning and working. This new model would redesign ing losses because distance education is less effective the curriculum, change the educational infrastructure, than in-person instruction—countries should adapt and retool the modes of delivery of learning by relying the curriculum to prioritize foundational skills in on strong partnerships with key stakeholders beyond numeracy, and language, and test students frequently the boundaries of education. Learning should include to monitor progress and place students at their right all, should be accessible everywhere, and should be level of instruction. Reopening schools should also affordable and relevant. 3 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice LEARNING RECOVERY AFTER COVID-19 IN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA: Policy and Practice Introduction The COVID-19 crisis has had and increasing learning equity. This note is built on a negative impact on learning the design and implementation details in a learning because of school closures. Distance education through recovery plan outlined by the World Bank1 and video calls, TV, radio, and other media seems to be less updates the strategies and actions that are currently effective than classroom teaching in terms of learning in place in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region.2 because of a lack of teachers with the right training and experience, the improvised adaptation of the The World Bank’s learning recovery plan has an over- curricula, and the difficulties in maintaining students’ arching goal: to make education more inclusive, effec- engagement with remote teaching. The release of tive, and resilient and to enable education systems to COVID vaccines brings hope for an end to the crisis, recover, succeed, and undergo positive transforma- allowing governments to plan for the normalization tions in the face of adversity3 (Figure 1). Recovering of education and the recovery of learning losses. The learning losses will also depend on countries making COVID-19 crisis has also become an opportunity structural improvements to their education systems to restructure educational practices to incorporate that will require high-level leadership, long-term valuable lessons from remote learning and create planning, and enough financial resources to imple- new strategies for strengthening student learning ment the plan immediately. 4 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice GOAL: Make education more inclusive, effective, and resilient Improving Coping Managing Continuity and Accelerating While schools are closed, As schools reopen, adapt the Build a resilient education re-engage students curriculum and expand compen- system satory programs • Protect health, safety • Monitor and evaluate overall • Support teachers and • Protect health and safety impacts on learning families to increase • Focus on foundational skills • Revise policies, programs, attendance • Assess students and place and infrastructure • Engage secondary students them at the right level • Convert COVID-19 crisis to reduce dropout • Expand compensatory into an opportunity to make • Start compensatory programs with equity educational reforms programs to prevent learning • Adapt and finance • Invest in technology loss educational infrastructure infrastructure and in access and equity Figure 1: Learning Recovery Plan for ECA The learning recovery plan in Figure 1 encompasses This learning recovery plan can be implemented in three stages: (i) a Coping stage, during which remote three phases. In Phase 1, re-engaging students and parents, learning substitutes for in-person school, students and schools will identify students at risk of dropping parents are given with instructional and psychosocial out, students who are disengaged, students living in support, and compensatory programs are created poverty, and students who belong to disadvantaged aimed at preventing learning losses; (ii) a Managing groups. The objective of this phase is to prevent Continuity stage, during which, as schools reopen, they learning loss by maintaining enrolment rates and focus on teaching foundational skills in language, minimizing dropouts, especially in secondary school math, and science, student assessment is contin- where students may want to enter the labor force too uous to ensure that they are placed at the right level early. In Phase 2, implementing compensatory programs, of instruction, compensatory programs ensure that schools will use diagnostic testing to place students poor or disadvantaged students have the same access at the right level of learning, simplify the curriculum to education as everyone else, and the financing of to prioritize foundational skills and prevent learning education benefits all students; and (iii) an Improving losses, and identify and select the most cost-effective and Accelerating learning stage, during which compen- programs and interventions. In Phase 3, building back a satory programs are tracked to ensure that they are resilient education system, schools will invest in training equitable, the results of this tracking guide on-course teachers in online instruction, which requires different adjustments to programs and policies, educational pedagogical methods and approaches, targeted to poor innovations are implemented to incorporate the and disadvantaged students, make the best programs lessons learned from remote instruction during the and interventions in Phase 2 permanent, and keep pandemic, and the entire system is evaluated to ensure parents engaged through direct contact with teachers that it is achieving the desired results. and through outreach programs. 5 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice 1. Coping with School Closures Although all countries in ECA have reopened their are mixing in-person, remote, and hybrid modes of schools in different modalities, the low rates of instruction to educate their students.8 vaccination and the emergence of different variants of the coronavirus strongly suggest that countries Parent engagement is a key starting point for coping will need to continue to manage learning within with the crisis, especially for pre-school and primary the framework of school closures.4 During most education. Children’s caregivers (parents, guardians, of 2020, schools were closed in all ECA countries or other family members) have been crucial partners but to different extents. As of March 2021, Albania in remote learning, but there is plenty of evidence reported 41 school days lost to closure, Hungary 73 showing that they have felt overburdened and lacking school days, Romania 108 school days, and Turkey 129 in the proper skills to assist children in the process.9 school days, though these data change rapidly.5 This A first step in fostering parental engagement is to range reflects differences in school calendars, in the discover their needs and priorities about remote impact of surges in infection rates, and in strict coun- learning and to find new ways to engage them try-wide quarantines. The latest survey data from the during and after the pandemic. A survey of 25,000 last quarter of 2020 indicates that, on average, ECA caregivers (parents and guardians) in 10 countries countries lost an average of 66 days, accounting for and interviews with 50 education decision-makers in approximately 36 percent of the school year.6 Learning 15 countries showed that parents want educational losses in ECA are estimated to amount to an average innovations that foster their children’s socio-emo- of 31 points in harmonized learning outcomes, while tional development and that support interactive 16 percent more children than before the pandemic teaching.10 Teachers have a large degree of influence are estimated to have failed to meet their grade over parents’ belief in education, and parents’ trust minimum proficiency of PISA level 2 test scores.7 in their children’s school is tied to the extent of their Out of an expected 12.6 years of schooling, the region engagement with teachers and school principals. lost an average of 0.8 years as a result of the COVID These findings are useful for designing policies aimed crisis. Currently, all education systems in the region at engaging parents in remote learning and hybrid 6 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice models of instruction. Home visits by teachers, Grade 6 students in Belgium amount to 0.19 standard regular parent-teacher meetings, sharing beliefs deviations (SD) in math and 0.29 SD in Dutch. about educational objectives, providing parents Grade 5 students in Germany lost 0.07 SD in reading with psychosocial assistance, and helping them with comprehension and 0.09 in math, while students digital skills can go a long way to reduce the feeling in Grades 3 to 8 in the US lost between 5 and 10 of burnout among parents. It is crucial to support percentage points in math.16/17 During the first quarter parents to help children to learn at home, as is being of 2021, ECA countries began implementing different done by Read@Home, a major initiative funded by instruction strategies to reduce the negative impact of the World Bank in North Macedonia that targets the pandemic on learning. Of the 24 ECA countries, about 40,000 children between the ages 3 and 12 and 21 are now mixing in-person attendance with remote aims to get reading, learning, and play materials into learning and other hybrid arrangements, while the homes and to support parents to be involved in their remaining three are still relying exclusively on remote children’s learning.11 learning. Data on each individual country are contin- uously being updated, including data on school Over the last few decades, there has not been enough status and mode of instruction, the prioritization of progress in the region in terms of improving learning teachers for the COVID vaccine, modes of in-person outcomes, and it is probable that the COVID-19 crisis support by education level, and modes of support for has exacerbated this problem.12 School closures and remote learning.18 As of mid-April 2021, most ECA the difficulties involved in implementing remote countries use the internet, TV, or mobile phones as learning are likely to have had a substantial negative modes of instructions under remote learning. Radio impact on the economy, with some estimates of total is being used by only two of the 24 countries. learning losses amounting to 0.8 percent of GDP annually.13 Such large losses reflects the fact that Reopening schools is a key step in recovering learning the returns to education remain high, meaning that losses because distance education is less effective than any loss in schooling will have a large impact on an in-person instruction. This is because teachers lack individual’s future earnings. Aside from the negative training in digital pedagogy and have no experience impact of school closures, learning losses also arise with virtual classroom practices, schools have had to from the impact of the crisis on the economy. An improvise their adaptations to the curriculum, and economic slowdown has a negative cascade effect keeping students engaged when they are at home can on employment, income, school enrollment, school be very difficult. Furthermore, in many developing attendance, educational attainment, and learning countries, students have limited access to the internet outcomes. The net effect is a compounded learning and to digital equipment, which aggravates the lack of loss for society with long-term repercussions for in-person instruction. productivity and wages.14 School closures also have a negative effect on children’s health and psychosocial well-being, increasing the incidence of anxiety and depression. Moreover, recent evidence indicates that in-person instruction may not be as dangerous for the trans- mission of the coronavirus among children as initially thought, as data from Europe indicates that children under 12 years of age have lower transmission rates for the virus, while those who get it rarely present with the severe symptoms found among adults.15 Hence, reopening schools could actually mitigate the health impacts of the crisis on young children. Measures of learning losses are available for a few countries, and the latest data indicate that they are substantial. For example, the losses experienced by 7 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice 2. Managing the Continuity of Instruction As schools reopen, countries should adapt the learning recovery. curriculum and expand compensatory programs • Protect education funding after deferred fiscal in accordance with the second stage of the learning payments are back on track. recovery plan. In many countries, the reopening of • Redistribute education expenditures to fund schools has been paired with remedial programs and compensatory programs. interventions,19 targeted mostly to minorities and • Use hybrid systems of instruction that incorporate disadvantaged students. Based on experiences with relevant lessons from remote learning. extra tutoring in England20 and Italy,21, with learning packages in India,22 and with on education finance In the medium term, the process of reopening schools equity in the United Kingdom23 and several states in the should also include investments in educational infra- US24 and on recent survey data from ECA countries,25 structure to:26 there are three critical actions in this second stage: • Improve classroom ventilation to reduce airborne (i) Simplify the curriculum to prioritize foundational infections, including the use of high-efficiency skills such as numeracy, literacy, and socio-emo- particulate air filters (HEPA) in closed spaces. tional resilience. • Provide/expand hand washing facilities and (ii) Implement standardized tests to identify the other sanitization measures, initiate promotion learning level of each student. campaigns aimed at encouraging these practices, (iii) Implement compensatory policies. and provide clear guidance on the use of masks and personal protective equipment. To bolster the effects of these actions, countries could • Repurpose large school spaces, such as gyms, into also consider complementary interventions to make learning spaces and food halls to allow for social the reopening of schools more effective: distancing. • Implement tutoring programs. • Modify IT equipment to enable quick changes • Use improved learning packages such as Teaching between in-person, remote, and hybrid modes of at the Right Level (TaRL), which can accelerate instruction. 8 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice Box 1: What Does It Mean to Reopen Schools? ECA countries have reopened schools under the following modes: • In-person, where schools are open, and students return to the classroom for in-person instruction. • Hybrid/remote, where schools may combine remote learning with in-person instruction or schools provide only remote instruction. • Mixed/multiple, where COVID-19 conditions force schools to alternate among different modes, including in-person, hybrid, remote, or complete closure. Source: https://www.covideducationrecovery.global/methodology/ These three critical actions and the associated policies required to wear masks at all times and to undergo and practices need to be planned and implemented frequent testing. Hungary has opened its primary over the medium and long terms. schools but has delayed in-person instruction for secondary students until early May. Kosovo used a Protect the health and safety of students and phased opening of schools in October 2020, starting focus on foundational skills. In countries where with the earliest grades in each level of education. significant segments of the population live in dire Sanitary supplies and COVID-19 protocols were put economic conditions, access to income subsidies in place in advance. Classes shift to remote learning and school meals can promote participation in both temporarily if a case of COVID is reported. remote learning — where parents/guardians may have to be at home during class time—and in-person Reduce education inequality enhanced by the attendance as recommended in the US.27 In addition, pandemic. Before COVID-19, 50 percent of children schools should be points of access for mental health in middle-income countries and 30 percent of services and psychosocial assistance, especially for the children in high-income countries failed to master poor as well as for teachers and parents, given the high secondary-level skills necessary for work and life. levels of stress produced by the pandemic. In USA, 10 percent of poor children had no access to digital technology for remote leaning. Globally, Romania is a case in point. All schools in the UNICEF estimates that 463 million children have no country are open with the mandatory use of masks access to remote learning. Technical and educational by all teachers and students. In-person instruction is innovations are key to reducing inequality. To that governed by different rules categorized by geographical end, some quick action is possible in several areas:30 risk zones. In green zones, where the average rate of • Maintain the engagement of students and families infection is lower than 1 in 1,000 people, all students from disadvantaged groups with the school. can return to school in person. In yellow zones, with • Modify the curriculum to focus on foundational a rate of infection between 1 and 3 in 1,000 people, skills to prevent learning loss. only children in grades 1 to 4 and in grades 8 to 12 can • Focus on the instructional core—on the mode of return to school. In red zones, with a rate of infection instruction most appropriate to the school context. higher than 3 in 1,000 people, only kindergarteners and • Deploy education technology for the long term students in grades 1 to 4 can return to school, and all (curricula, teacher training, instructional core, other students continue under distance learning. The and infrastructure) and ensure equitable access to school calendar for the year follows revised guidelines digital learning. but is as close to normal as possible.28 Other ECA • Evaluate, course-correct, and scale-up good countries have in-person instruction in a variety of innovations. different modes.29 For example, in Denmark, students in grades 1 to 4 cannot mingle with students from Assess students and place them at the right level. other classrooms, and there are staggered free times Schools are recommended to use rapid standardized between classes. Austria allows all students to return testing to identify students that have experienced the to class but at staggered times, and all students are largest learning losses and assign them to the most 9 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice appropriate compensatory or remedial program. would support the timely implementation of remedial Pedagogical models such as Teaching at the Right Level actions aimed at learning recovery. can be used assign students to different groups after testing.31 As schools reopen, more than 60 percent of Expand access to digital pedagogy. Expanding countries have indicated that they will use school- access to the internet and to laptops helps to improve based assessments to track learning, while 30 percent students’ educational performance by enhancing equity plan to use national assessments for primary schools, and inclusion. In Moldova and in Romania, thousands and 50 percent plan to use national assessments for of laptops are being distributed to students for online secondary school.32 Out of the 26 countries in ECA learning. The Ministry of Education, Culture, and that receive World Bank financing, only four do not Research in Moldova is distributing 10,000 laptops track student learning. Testing children one-on-one purchased with funds from the World Bank-financed helps instructors to understand the specific learning Moldova Education Reform Project.38 The laptops will needs of each child, to create manageable groups be assigned mostly to secondary school and lyceum of children with similar learning needs, and to use students who do not have a computer at home. It is level-appropriate activities to help children to learn. estimated that about 9,500 5th- to 12th-grade students The assessment process also allows instructors and need a laptop in order to be able to study online. The mentors to track academic improvements and keeps total cost of the purchase is US$2.9 million. In Romania, the whole system focused on the child’s learning the government has begun distributing 60,000 laptops progress. though the ROSE project, with financing from the World Bank. The laptops will be distributed to Roma Expand compensatory programs with equity. students, students in poor rural areas, and students Tutoring works well in recovering learning losses. For with special education needs. Laptop distribution instance, a three-month tutoring program can help is transparent and can be tracked on the websites to restore the loss of up to five months of normal of beneficiary high schools and in local news outlets schooling33 and can improve math and language where the policy has received wide coverage.39 performance by almost 5 percent.34 Tutoring programs yield consistent and substantial positive impacts Protect education funding. Two-thirds of low- on learning outcomes, with an overall pooled effect and lower-middle-income countries have cut their of 0.37 SD. The impact of tutoring is greater when education budgets because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is provided by teachers and paraprofessionals as while only a third of upper-middle- and high-income opposed to parents and non-professionals. Available countries have reduced their budgets. However, not evidence shows that tutoring in reading has a larger all countries have reduced their education budgets, impact on students in the earlier grades, while math and some high-income countries even increased theirs tutoring tends to have a larger impact on students in in 2020 to finance their pandemic-related interven- later grades. Tutoring programs conducted during the tions.40 European policies on COVID-19 have tended school day tend to lead to greater improvements than to be oriented towards increasing health expenditures, those conducted after school hours.35 providing household subsidies and services, and imple- menting employment programs. Fiscally, policies are in Target low-income and remote households and place to defer taxes and other fiscal obligations such as engage non-poor households. To make real progress social security contributions, producing a fiscal deficit in improving learning, education sector leaders need that affects other sectors, such as education.41 Such to prioritize a few key goals, (such as increasing contractions in social expenditures will have negative foundational literacy and numeracy rates), monitor long-term effects on human capital and productivity, progress towards achieving them, and foster collective which suggests that protecting education is a strategy accountability for improving results.36 There is also with significant positive implications for long-term overwhelming evidence that teaching at the right level economic recovery.42 is a good policy that takes students’ initial knowledge into consideration.37 As school systems reopen, it is Protecting education budgets after the COVID-19 important to monitor changes in the learning distri- crisis will require taking deliberate steps to increase bution among the poor, track within-group inequality, expenditures on compensatory programs targeted to and benchmark learning poverty. Such monitoring the poor and minorities, on the training of teachers in 10 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice digital pedagogy, and on the adaptation and expansion Project46 ensured short-term funding by amending the of digital infrastructure. Economic activity in almost budget transfer rule for municipal preschool budgets all the countries in the region contracted by 2 percent to shift funding from teacher-based to student-based in 2020 as a direct result of the economic contraction financing. This quick action enabled the launch of a induced by COVID-19, especially those countries pilot after-school enrichment program for students in with economic links to the Euro area. Fortunately, grades 1 to 9, thus creating opportunities for women growth in the great majority of the countries in ECA with children to join the labor market. is projected to be positive in 2022.43 Hence, there will be opportunities to protect and expand education Provide academic and technical support. Preschools budgets in the region. should have their own programs that provide teachers with pedagogical support, guidance on child cognitive Expand the education budget. In order to reopen stimulation, positive parent-child interactions, and schools, it will be necessary to spend additional continuation of learning. The positive experience with funds to minimize the risk of infection and to fund mobile creches in India, where temporary childcare learning recovery programs as existing government centers are set up near the workplaces of mothers, may budget reallocations may not be enough to ensure be worth replicating. Successful adaptations of early that these programs are fully funded. The World Bank childhood education programs for vulnerable families has adjusted some of its project funding for ECA and during COVID have been developed in Bangladesh assigned new funds to the project pipeline. It has (the Beside You program for mothers of pre-school allocated about US$467 million for COVID-related children), in Greece (the Refuge Trauma Initiative activities in education in ECA for fiscal years 2020 Baytna for Arabic-speaking children), in Rwanda and 2021, an amount representing almost 10 percent of (Sugira Muryango virtual home-visit program), the US total World Bank commitments.44 (the Parents as Teachers program, now serving 200,000 families worldwide), and in Brazil (the Criança Feliz Increase the efficiency of education expenditures. program).47 In the European Union, an early childhood In the meantime, there are some practical short-run education program is beginning to take shape focusing activities that can be implemented quickly, such as: (i) on inclusion and on staff professionalization,48 and identifying and training local community volunteers in Turkey, the EBA (Eğitim Bilişim Aği) e-learning to help children with distance learning and to platform is offering a comprehensive array of support communicate crucial COVID-19 health messages to services to increase digital access and improve the children and their parents; (ii) using community-based quality of digital pedagogy (see Box 3 ). organizations to distribute new education materials related to distance education in the language that Prepare for the continuation of some aspects students know best; (iii) using off-line, low-tech, and of remote learning. Data from US school districts no-tech solutions in areas with no internet access, such shows that students and parents have various reasons as translating and downloading books onto memory to favor the continuation of different forms of remote drives for easy access on devices not connected to the learning in the future. These tend to be related to internet; (iv) testing ethnolinguistic minority children three issues: (i) disparities in students’ opportunities in the language in which they studied each subject; and to learn during school closures; (ii) students’ social (v) after schools reopen, engaging students in sports to and emotional needs; and (iii) insufficient funding bring enjoyment and normalcy to their lives, to reduce to cover staff.49 The leaders of these school districts stress, and to foster their mental health.45 have indicated that some aspects of remote learning will outlast the COVID-19 pandemic. They are Redistribute education expenditures for quick considering, or have already adopted, different types action. Funds need to be found in the short run of hybrid forms of instruction to give students more for tutoring, teacher training in digital pedagogy, flexibility, work to satisfy the demands from parents, non-digital delivery of remote learning, and preschool and maintain student enrollment. funding under COVID-defensive and prevention measures by redistributing the education budget while The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a drop in school additional funding is being sought. Albania’s Gender attendance, which will affect school budgets in Equality in Access to Economic Opportunities countries that allocate funds on the basis of student 11 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice enrollment rates. Although there are no published that key components of the learning recovery process data yet about net changes in school enrollment for are protected. This includes teacher salaries, the cost ECA, as a point of comparison, the average drop in of implementing compensatory programs, and the enrollment in the US during 2020 was between 2 analysis of potential economies of scale produced by and 4 percent, which will reduce schools’ budgets the adoption of hybrid modes of instruction. going forward.50 Anticipating this drop in funding is important for budget planning. It also underscores the The World Bank is supporting a wide range of projects need to continue those components of remote learning in the region to help countries to deal with the that can bring economies of scale to instruction costs. educational consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hence, education policymakers must expressly address as shown below. the composition of the education budgets and ensure Kosovo. The Education Systems Improvement Project 52 is providing school development grants to support school improvement plans. The current round of grants (US$1.2 million) was made flexible to allow schools to procure goods and training to meet immediate needs brought on by COVID-19. About 100,000 students will benefit. Additionally, an Emergency COVID-19 Grant for Early Childhood Development (ECD)53 has supported disadvantage and minority young children aged 0-7 and families through provision of 1,500 kits with storybooks and didactic materials. It also supported development of animated and expert videos for the ECD online platform and SMS messages directed to caregivers and teachers across 5 broad themes. North Macedonia. The Primary Education Improvement Project, with funding of US$25 million 54 Photo: Unknow author, License: CC BY from the World Bank, will redesign the curriculum to promote critical thinking and socioemotional skills and include subject areas that will help students to apply their knowledge in real-life situations. It Kazakhstan. The Education Modern- will also: (i) increase public investment in primary ization Project51 is implementing a US$67 million education (the education budget’s share of the total Distance Learning Survey to strengthen school budget increased from 47 percent to 57 percent improvement plans. The survey covers 12,000 students in 2020); (ii) develop a new funding formula for and 6,000 teachers in a sample of 10 percent of all primary education to include capital investments that schools. The survey will yield information on student prioritize the most vulnerable students in the system; participation in different modalities of emergency (iii) define career advancement opportunities for remote instruction, student completion of courses teachers and career incentives tied to performance; within each modality, and the learning outcomes from (iv) define standards for student achievement; (v) assessments that were conducted before schools closed apply a national assessment in primary education; and for COVID-19. (vi) improve physical infrastructure and the learning environment in selected schools. 12 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice Romania. The Safer, Inclusive, and Sustainable Schools Project aims to improve the education system by investing in infrastructure. It is described in detail in Box 2. Box 2: Supporting the Safe Reopening of Schools in Romania The Romania Safer, Inclusive and Sustainable Schools Project is a US$118 million World Bank project that will: (i) increase the resilience of the education system; (ii) increase energy efficiency in schools; (iii) improve the learning environment in selected schools; and (iv) increase institutional capacity to make integrated investments in schools in the country. Its components consist of: (i) investment in the infrastructure of 55 of the highest-risk primary and lower secondary schools and (ii) investment in modern classroom furniture and equipment to improve the learning environment through innovative teaching approaches, reduced class sizes, and multiple school shifts. Investments in digital classrooms and training will also allow students to learn from home. The project will support the transformation of approximately 1,000 classrooms into modern and digital learning environments to meet the differentiated needs of approximately 16,000 students. Moreover, The project will also provide teacher training in digital skills to 1,500 teachers (25 percent of the total), provide daily internet access to the 64 percent of students that currently do not have this access, improve the infrastructure in the 30 percent of schools that are operating double and triple shifts, and improve the 14 percent of school buildings with no sanitary permits, the 22 percent that have no adequate water source, and the 30 percent that have no indoor toilets. Through a joint education and governance team, the World Bank has helped the government to use scenario planning for their school reopenings and to develop robust strategies for immediate responses and mid-term recovery during the COVID crisis. The main goal is to prepare schools for new waves of COVID-19. During the 2020/21 school year, schools have been using a traffic light signaling system to govern in-person attendance under different infection rates. when an area is designated as green, all students attend school in-person. A yellow designation means hybrid instruction, in which primary school students attend in person, but secondary students rotate in-person attendance to keep class sizes down. A red designation means that all schools are operating only online. Source: World Bank, 202160 Serbia. The Inclusive Early Childhood Tajikistan. The Early Childhood Education and Care project55 (US$50 million) is being Development to Build Tajikistan’s Human Capital modified to adjust to COVID conditions. It aims to Project56 (US$70 million) will develop and support implement a new Preschool Curriculum Framework, a basic package of integrated services to tackle the provide mentoring support for preschools teachers, most pressing educational needs, while building a provide teacher training, and support the preschool sustainable foundation for the cross-sectoral delivery system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project of services aimed at improving ECD outcomes for will also help the government to implement a commu- all children. It will support multisectoral provision nication campaign aimed at showing parents how to of quality ECD services, integrating a range of basic, support the holistic development of their children. differentiated, and specialized services. Components The Ministry of Education, with assistance from the of the project cover strengthening the country’s World Bank and other donors, is developing parenting capacity to deliver the basic package, implementing workshops and communication materials to promote the basic package nationwide, and increasing access to the use of early childhood stimulation activities at the basic package in targeted districts. home. 13 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice Turkey. The Safe Schooling and Distance Education Project (US$160 million) is one of ECA’s largest project, as described in Box 3 in more detail. Box 3: Turkey's Digital Platform The Safe Schooling and Distance Education Project finances: (i) the expansion of Turkey’s EBA (Eğitim Bilişim Aği) e-learning platform from 300,000 users to 1 million users; (ii) the development of IT infrastructure for the New Digital Education System that will increase capacity from 1 million to 5 million concurrent users; (iii) the development of distance education content; and (iv) the development of an education technology ecosystem to promote innovative technologies and pedagogical tools to support the transition towards blended learning. Currently, about 57 percent of poor households with two school-age children have no access to internet, and 66 percent of poor households with three or more school-age children have no access to the internet. The project will expand EBA coverage among the poor and, in the process, fix any technical issues and increase school resilience. The EBA will also provide teachers with better guidance on remote teaching and pedagogy, will improve education quality assurance mechanisms, and clarify the roles of school principals, teachers, parents, and students in the provision of learning support within a digital environment. The project’s components are as follows: 1. Emergency Connectivity and IT Infrastructure for Education in Emergencies: a. Target low-income and remote households, but also include non-poor households. b. Promote blended learning by increasing digital system capacity. 2. Digital Content for Safety and Quality: a. Innovative delivery of new digital content and pedagogical tools and wider participation of parents, teachers, universities, and communities. b. TV programming for poor households with no digital access. c. TV and written materials for students with special needs. d. Educational material compatible with distance education. 3. Institutional Capacity for Education Technology Resilience a. Strengthen the Ministry of Education’s capacity for coordination, management, and monitoring The main project indicators are as follows: Use of distance education: Baseline 2020: 26 percent of students. Goals: 45 percent by 2022, and 70 percent by the end of 2023. Concurrent users: Baseline 2020: 300,000 students. Goals: 1 million by 2022, and 5 million by the end of 2023. Students in lowest quintile: Baseline 2020: 14 percent % of students. Goals: 20 percent % by 2022, and 30 percent % by the end of 2023. Teachers trained: Baseline 2020: 80,600. Goals: 500,000 by 2022, and 900,000 by the end of 2023. Source: World Bank, 202057 14 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice Uzbekistan. The Promoting Early Child- hood Development Project (US$ 73.8 million), imple- mented by the Ministry of Preschool Education, aims to increase access to early childhood education, improve the quality of learning environments in selected public preschools, and devise a systematic way to measure education quality to inform deci- sion-making.61 Also, the Modernizing Higher Educa- tion Project (US$73.8 million)62 supports the online platforms for the admission of students to graduate programs and for managing student transfers and readmissions. This intervention has expanded the Ministry of Higher and Secondary-Specialized Educa- tion’s capacity to manage graduate admissions and transfers fully online in the midst of the lockdown. Ukraine. The Government of Ukraine is implementing learning continuity programs using the All-Ukrainian Online School plat- form for distance and blended learning for students in grades 5 to 11. The project, managed by the Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) and the Ministry of Digital Transformation, provides teachers and students with access to more educational materials and helps schooling to continue during quarantine.58 The platform allows students to track their learning progress. As for education funding, the government is protecting education spending in 2021 by increasing transfers to local governments for teaching aids and equipment, providing additional financial support to teachers, and helping local governments with meas- ures to ensure school safety from the spread of the coronavirus. In addition, with World Bank funding, the MOES is preparing the Ukraine Improving Higher Education for Results Project (P171050, US$200 million) to support learning continuity and opera- tional resilience in higher education through initia- tives to expand digitalization in the education sector.59 These efforts will help higher education institutions to recover from the impact of COVID-19 while also adapting to more resilient and flexible approaches going forward. The goal of this project is to improve the quality and increase the relevance of higher educa- tion to meet labor market demands. 15 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice 3. Improving and Accelerating - Building a Resilient Education System What do education systems need to do to make some • All children receive remedial support to recover of the policies under the managing phase a permanent lost learning. part of the system? The COVID-19 crisis has gener- • All schools use a streamlined curriculum that ated a sense of urgency about the need for the struc- focuses on foundational skills. tural transformation of education delivery as well as • Children in poverty or in remote areas have an explicit recognition that some of the changes being increased access to the internet. made now may become permanent. Hence, moving • Digital infrastructure is being expanded to forward past the crisis stage will require: increase access and the efficient use of distance • Monitoring and evaluating the impacts of the education. crisis-led changes on learning recovery. 2. Teacher welfare, training, and performance: • Revising policies, programs, and infrastructure. • Teachers are on the priority list for COVID-19 • Converting the COVID-19 crisis into an oppor- vaccinations and are vaccinated before moving tunity to make structural educational reforms. to in-person instruction. • Investing in technology infrastructure and in • All teachers are prepared and supported to increasing access and equity. participate in learning recovery programs and to incorporate digital technology into their Monitoring and evaluating learning recovery. For teaching. the best results, the following areas of educational • All teachers have access to ongoing training in performance should be prioritized in monitoring and remote pedagogy and digital skills. evaluation learning recovery:63 • Educational innovations are evaluated for their 1. Student learning and wellbeing: support of teaching and for cost-effectiveness.64 • All children and adolescents back in school receive the compensatory services needed to Carefully monitoring these areas and goals will require meet their learning, health, psycho-social, and the use of relatively straightforward indicators as other needs. outlined in Table 1. 16 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice Table 1: Recommended Indicators for Tracking Educational Performance under COVID Conditions Learning Recovery Goal Indicator All schools provide remedial education. Percentage of schools offering remedial education, by level of education All schools incorporate social-emotional learning into Percentage of schools with instruction methods that their teaching. incorporate the development of social-emotional skills All schools use digital technology to improve founda- Percentage of schools using digital technology to teach tional skills. foundational language and math, by level of education Enrollment rates are back to pre-COVID levels. Gross and net enrollment rates, by gender. All schools provide services to recover learning losses Percentage of schools providing health and psychoso- and to promote wellbeing. cial services, by level of education Teachers are prioritized for vaccination. Teachers are on priority list for vaccination. All teachers receive training and support to incorporate Percentage of teachers that have receive training and remedial education and social-emotional learning into support for remedial education and social emotional their pedagogy. learning, by level of education. All teachers receive training or other support to deliver Proportion of teachers by level of education trained to remote instruction. deliver remote instruction delivery. Source: Authors’ compilation. The COVID-19 crisis has also become an opportunity (iii) Using data systems to design and monitor school to make education systems more resilient, that is, to expenditures and the effects of policy decisions enable them to “recover, succeed, and undergo positive implemented at the school level. transformations in the face of adversity.”65 Using resil- ience as a framework, there are three building blocks 3. Improve teacher performance by encouraging that need to be in place for this to happen:66 them to upgrade their skills and by implementing performance assessments, while also attracting 1. Ensure that material and financial resources better entrants to the teaching profession. reach schools by: (i) Sustaining education budgets and investing where returns are greatest. Ensuring that critical expendi- tures are maintained in order to keep children The COVID-19 crisis provides lessons on how to build enrolled (and minimize dropouts) and to protect a transformational and resilient education system the most vulnerable and more disadvantaged stu- through forward-looking policies that will produce dents. the skills needed in the future. This transformation (ii) Using targeted block grants to ensure that funds will be achieved by making structural changes in edu- reach disadvantaged/vulnerable schools. cation delivery aimed at improving quality and equity. (iii) Making sure that levels of teacher salaries are Within the three building blocks described above, maintained and that teachers are paid on time. some specific areas that will require reform are: 2. Increase school accountability by: • Time assigned to schooling and the use of hybrid models (i) Measuring and monitoring learning to use positive of student attendance. The impact of social dis- accountability, that is, with training and support; tancing and staggered attendance has generated not punitive. new models of instruction where content and (ii) Monitoring and enforcing student attendance. learning become more important than the time 17 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice spent in school and the length of lessons units, • Define clear equity goals and the resources needed to leading to streamlined school days and/or the use improve learning equity. Identify the country’s target of year-round schooling under more individualized groups, and outline a framework for the education instruction.67 policies to be pursued related to teacher quality, school management, financing, and monitoring for • Student-centered instruction. Under an individ- accountability. Such a framework would signal the ualized approach based on student-centered government’s commitment to improving learning instruction, teachers have to become proficient in equity and reducing learning poverty.72 digital pedagogy so they can serve as facilitators of digital content suited to student needs, and to use • Implement policies and innovations for hybrid such content to foster a student’s analytical and instruction. Specific policies and actions to be critical thinking. The experience during the periods implemented at the school level should adhere to of remote instruction in 2020 showed that students the principle that they should make the system learned to be more actively engaged in their own more efficient. Hybrid instruction should not learning, and that students also used their own unduly increase the workload on teachers, nor judgement and self-determination to explore those should they increase the workload on parents. areas in the curriculum that interested them the Teachers’ support for policies and actions on most, fostering critical and analytical thinking in hybrid learning will be crucial for their success, the process.68 while it is not helpful if parents perceive that the work that should be done by the school is simply • A new curriculum. Post-COVID-19 education being transferred to them. Hence, the overarching should reexamine what is worth teaching and what managerial principle should be to ensure education is worth learning. It should enable students to efficiency and quality. develop their non-cognitive and socio-emotional skills in order to compete in an increasingly auto- • Monitor learning outcomes. By tracking learning pro- mated world. Hence, creativity, curiosity, critical gress in real time, testing students often, within thinking, entrepreneurship, collaboration, and the context of instructional change, serves two communication are traits that need to be nurtured purposes: (i) it reveals the percentage of students by the new curriculum in which digital content will who are not meeting the minimum requirements replace school-based materials to a large extent.69 for their grade, what kinds of support they need and what is the right grade for them and (ii) helps One key issue that can be addressed during this period policymakers to refine policies if necessary. of opportunity is the challenge posed by children who are enrolled in school but are not learning enough. • Promote a climate of innovation for improving hybrid/ This is an opportunity to install some learning blended methods of education delivery. The education recovery policies as permanent elements into edu- market already has plenty of innovations in the use cation systems to improve learning equity and reduce of technology for early grade reading, but deci- learning poverty.70 The emerging consensus on edu- sion-makers have limited information to inform cation quality and learning poverty suggests that pol- which innovations to select, how best to assign icies on educational equity should: resources, and how to scale up effective innovations to the regional or national levels. Hence, schools • Identify the issues associated with disparities in learning can be crucial sources of pilot experience to see outcomes between mainstream and disadvantaged what works and how an innovation can maintain groups in the population, such as access to quality its integrity as it is scaled up. teachers, pedagogical resources, and compensatory programs and the need for educational materials • Invest in digital pedagogy. This will require the pro- in the student’s main language. Global evidence vision of training to upgrade teachers’ digital skills shows that the poor, immigrants, and other disad- and the participation of trained teachers in the vantaged groups can perform very well when they development of a new digital pedagogy. In parallel, have access to a quality education.71 governments should invest in digital platforms that can ensure the delivery of education during emer- 18 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice gencies and that can also help to bring instruc- the lessons learned during the COVID-19 crisis in its tional efficiency during normal school years. outline of the education system of the future, of which digital pedagogy and ICT will be crucial components. • Use impact monitoring and evaluation to track pro- The restructuring of education in Turkey will involve gress in learning, learning equity, and learning perfor- structural reforms to the curriculum and to modes of mance under the hybrid methods of instruction. This instruction, a reduction in achievement gaps between will ensure the efficiency and accountability of the population groups, and an increasing reliance on inno- education system at a large scale. This type of mon- vation to meet current and future skill needs. itoring is crucial for the long-term transformation of education. Turkey is a good example of a country where a plan is being implemented for the transformation of edu- cation after COVID-19.73 The plan took into account Conclusions The COVID-19 crisis has affected the educational structures of most countries of the world. In Europe and Central Asia, countries have coped with the pandemic by rapidly adapting their education delivery to prevent learning loss and retain students in school, by implementing remedial and compensatory programs aimed at recovering learning, by ensuring learning equity by protecting minorities and students at risk, and by protecting the health and ensuring the safety of students and teachers. However, the pandemic is lasting longer than predicted, and in the process, the crisis has become an opportunity to introduce structural reforms to education systems to make them more resilient and, in the process, improve their performance. The list of recommendations in the previous section can serve as a guide to the kind of policies and actions that can transform education and improve learning and learning equity in the long term. Notes 1 World Bank. 2020. “The World Bank’s Education Response to COVID-19. Overview as of December 2020.” Washington DC: World Bank. https://pubdocs.worldbank.org/ en/487971608326640355/External-WB-EDU-Response-to-COVID-Dec15FINAL.pdf. 2 Shmis, Tigran, Alina Sava, Janssen Edelweiss Nunes Teixeira, and Harry Anthony Patrinos. 2020. “Response Note to COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice Recommen- dations.” Education Global Practice, Europe and Central Asia Region. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/862141592835804882/ECA-Education-Re- sponse-Note-v9-final.pdf. 3 Reyes, Joel. 2013. “What Matters Most for Education Resilience.” Systems Approach for Better Ed- ucation Results, Working Paper Series. Washington DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge. worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/16550/788110NWP0Box30ucational0Resilience. pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. 4 Charumilind, Sarun, Matt Craven, Jessica Lamb, Adam Sabow, and Matt Wilson. 2021. “When will 19 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice the COVID-19 Pandemic End?” Our Insights. Healthcare Systems and Services.” McKinsey and Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-in- sights/when-will-the-covid-19-pandemic-end# 5 htpps://data.unicef.org/resources/one-year-of-covid-19-and-school-closures/. 6 UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank. 2020. “What have we learnt? Overview of findings from a survey of ministries of education on national responses to COVID-19.” Paris, New York, Washington D.C.: UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/ handle/10986/34700; European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2020. The Organization of School Time in Europe. Primary and General Secondary Education – 2020/21. Eurydice Facts and Figures. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://eacea.ec.europa. eu/national-policies/eurydice/sites/default/files/school_calendar_2020_21_0.pdf. 7 Azevedo, Joao Pedro, Koen Geven, Diana Goldemberg, Amer Hasan, Syedah Aroob Iqbal. 2020. “Country tool for simulating the potential impacts of COVID-19 school closures on schooling and learning outcomes, Version 6”. World Bank, Washington DC. https://blogs.worldbank.org/ education/learning-losses-due-covid19-could-add-10-trillion. 8 World Bank. 2021. School closures tracker. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-re- lease/2021/03/26/new-global-tracker-to-measure-pandemic-s-impact-on-educa- tion-worldwide. 9 Thorell, Lisa B., Charlotte Skoglund, Almudena Giménez de la Peña, Dieter Baeyens, Anselm B. M. Fuermaier, Madeleine J. Groom, Irene C. Mammarella, Saskia van der Oord, Barbara J. van den Hoofdakker, Marjolein Luman, Débora Marques de Miranda, Angela F. Y. Siu, Ricarda Steinmayr, Iman Idrees, Lorrayne Stephane Soares, Matilda Sörlin, Juan Luis Luque, Ughetta M. Moscardino, Maja Roch, Giulia Crisci, and Hanna Christiansen. 2021. “Parental experienc- es of homeschooling during the COVID 19 pandemic: differences between seven European countries and between children with and without mental health conditions.” European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01706-1. Published Online Jan. 7, 2021. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00787-020-01706-1.pdf; Leonhardt, Megan. 2020. “9.8 Million Working Mothers in the U.S. are suffering from burnout.” Make it. CNBC. December 3, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/03/millions-of-working-moth- ers-in-the-us-are-suffering-from-burnout.html; The Guardian. 2021. “‘I feel like I’m failing’: Parents’ stress rises over home schooling in Covid lockdown.” https://www.theguardian.com/ lifeandstyle/2021/jan/23/i-feel-like-im-failing-parents-stress-rises-over-home-schooling- in-covid-lockdown. 10 Winthrop, Rebecca, and Mahsa Ershadi. 2021. “Parents, Education, and Cross-border Sharing Introducing our Family Engagement in Education project collaborators.” Center for Universal Education, Brookings Institution, Washington DC. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/ uploads/2020/10/Introducing-CUEs-Family-Engagment-in-Education-project-collabora- tors.pdf. 11 Naceva, Bojana, Martin Galevski, and Melissa Kelly. 2020. Read@Home: Effective Partnership to Reach Vulnerable Children in North Macedonia. Blog Post, December 17. World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/readhome-effective-partnerships-reach-vulnera- ble-children-north-macedonia. 12 Angrist, Noam, Simeon Djankov, Pinelopi K. Goldberg, and Harry A. Patrinos. 2021. “Measuring hu- man capital using global learning data.” Nature 592, no. 7854: 403-408. https://www.nature. com/articles/s41586-021-03323-7. 13 Psacharopoulos, G., V. Collis, H.A. Patrinos, and E. Vegas. 2021. The COVID-19 Cost of School Closures in Earnings and Income across the World. Comparative Education Review, 65(2), forthcoming. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/. 14 Najeeb, Shafiq M. 2010. “The Effect of an Economic Crisis on Educational Outcomes: An Economic Framework and Review of the Evidence.” Current Issues in Comparative Education, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 5-13. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1709045. 20 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice 15 de Hoyos, Rafael, and Jaime Saavedra. 2021. “It is time to return to learning.” Blog Post March 24, 2021. Washington DC: World Bank. https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/it-time-return- learning. 16 Donnelly, Robin, and Harry Anthony Patrinos. 2021. “Learning Loss During COVID-19: An Early Systematic Review.” CovidEconomics77, 30 April 2021: 145-153. https://cepr.org/content/cov- id-economics-vetted-and-real-time-papers-0. 17 Psacharopoulos, George, and Harry Anthony Patrinos. “Returns to investment in education: a decennial review of the global literature.” Education Economics 26, no. 5 (2018): 445-458. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09645292.2018.1484426. 18 Johns Hopkins University, World Bank, and UNICEF. 2021. COVID-19 Global Education Recovery Tracker. Last updated as of 24 March 2021. Baltimore, Washington DC, New York: JHU, World Bank, UNICEF. https://www.covideducationrecovery.global/country-list/. 19 Donnelly, Robin Ocean, and Harry Anthony Patrinos. 2021. “Is the COVID-19 Slide in Educa- tion Real?” https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/covid-19-slide-education-real#:~:tex- t=Across%20ECA%2C%20evidence%20is%20emerging,%E2%80%93%20a%20’COVID%20 slide’.&text=This%20finding%20is%20reinforced%20by,during%20the%20school%20clo- sure%20period. 20 UK Department of Education. 2021. “How the National Tutoring Programme will help pupils most affected by the impact of lost learning during the pandemic.” Blog Post, Education in the Media. March 17. https://dfemedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/03/17/how-the-national-tutoring-pro- gramme-will-help-pupils-most-affected-by-the-impact-of-lost-learning-during-the-pan- demic/. 21 EurekAlert. 2021. Online tutoring improves disadvantaged school pupils performance and wellbe- ing in lockdown. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/bu-oti071420.php. 22 Banerjee, Abhijit, Rukmini Banerji, James Berry, Esther Duflo, Harini Kannan, Shobhini Mukherji, Marc Shotland, and Michael Walton. 2016. “Mainstreaming an effective intervention: Evi- dence from randomized evaluations of ‘Teaching at the Right Level’ in India.” Working Paper 22746. Cambridge MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/ w22746. 23 Burgess, Simon, and Hans Sievertsen. 2020. “Learning Loss: The National Tutoring Program for England is a Valuable Step-but may not go far enough.” Blog Post, The Conversation. https:// theconversation.com/learning-loss-the-national-tutoring-programme-for-england-is-a-val- uable-step-but-may-not-go-far-enough-149490. 24 Education Commission of the States. 2020. “Funding Equity.” COVID-19 Outline Series. October 2020. https://www.ecs.org/wp-content/uploads/Funding_Equity_FINAL.pdf. 25 UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2020. “Survey on National Responses to COVID-19 School Clo- sures.” http://tcg.uis.unesco.org/survey-education-covid-school-closures/. 26 Barrett, Peter, Alberto Treves, Tigran Shmis, Diego Ambasz, and Maria Ustinova. 2019. The Im- pact of School Infrastructure on Learning. A Synthesis of the Evidence. International De- velopment in Focus. Washington DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/ bitstream/handle/10986/30920/9781464813788.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y; UNICEF. 2020. Annex to: Considerations for School-Related Public Health Measures in the Context of COVID-19. https://www.unicef.org/media/82736/file/Considerations-for-school-related-pub- lic-health%20measures-in-COVID-19-2020.pdf. 27 US Department of Education. 2021. “ED COVID-19 Handbook.” Volume 2. April 2021. Washington DC. https://www2.ed.gov/documents/coronavirus/reopening-2.pdf. 28 https://www.romania-insider.com/romania-reopens-schools-february-2021; https://www.edu. ro/adaptarea-structurii-anului-%C8%99colar-2020-2021-la-situa%C8%9Bia-epidemiolog- ic%C4%83-actual%C4%83. 29 https://xinhuanet.com/english/2021-02/09/c_139730997.htm; OECD. 2021. Spotlight 21. CORO- NAVIRUS: Back to School. Trends Shaping Education 2020 Spotlight. Paris: OECD. https:// 21 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice www.oecd.org/education/coronavirus-education-country-notes.htm; Reuters. 2021. Hungary delays school reopening after teachers, students protest. https://www.reuters.com/business/ healthcare-pharmaceuticals/hungary-delays-secondary-schools-reopening-by-3-weeks- may-10-pm-orban-2021-04-09/. 30 World Bank. 2021. Acting Now to Protect the Human Capital of Our Children: The Costs of and Response to COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on the Education Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/han- dle/10986/35276; Vegas, Emiliana, and Rebecca Winthrop. 2020. “Beyond reopening schools: How education can emerge stronger than before COVID-19.” Blog Post, September 2020. Washington DC: Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/research/beyond-reopen- ing-schools-how-education-can-emerge-stronger-than-before-covid-19/. 31 Teaching at the right level can be implemented via computer-assisted learning, or through tutors, or tracking, as respectively shown in these three studies: Muralidharan, Karthik, Abhijeet Singh, and Alejandro J. Ganimian. 2019. “Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India.” American Economic Review, 109 (4): 1426-60. https:// www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20171112; Banerjee, Abhijit V., Shawn Cole, Esther Duflo, and Leigh Linden. 2007. “Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122 (3): 1235–64. https://academ- ic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/122/3/1235/1879525?redirectedFrom=fulltext; and Duflo, Esther, Pascaline Dupas, and Michael Kremer. 2011. “Peer Effects, Teacher Incentives, and the Impact of Tracking: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Kenya.” American Economic Review, 101 (5): 1739-74. https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.101.5.1739. 32 UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank (2020). “What have we learnt? Overview of findings from a survey of ministries of education on national responses to COVID-19.” Paris, New York, Washington D.C.: UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/ handle/10986/34700. 33 The Economist. 2020. “England’s catch-up tutoring programme has bold ambitions.” https://www. economist.com/britain/2020/11/05/englands-catch-up-tutoring-programme-has-bold-am- bitions. 34 EurekAlert. 2021. Online tutoring improves disadvantaged school pupils performance and wellbe- ing in lockdown. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/bu-oti071420.php. 35 Nickow, Andre, Philip Oreopoulos, and Vincent Quan. 2020. “The Impressive Effects of Tutoring on Prek-12 Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence.” Working Paper 27476. Cambridge MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www. nber.org/papers/w27476. 36 Beeharry, Girindre. 2021. “The pathway to progress on SDG 4 requires the global education architecture to focus on foundational learning and to hold ourselves accountable for achieving it.” International Journal of Educational Development 82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ijedudev.2021.102375; World Bank. 2020. Ending Learning Poverty: What will it Take? Washington DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/han- dle/10986/32553/142659.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y. 37 Azevedo, João Pedro, and Silvia Montoya. 2021. “Building Back Better After COVID-19: The Impor- tance of Tracking Learning Inequality.” World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/educa- tion/building-back-better-after-covid-19-importance-tracking-learning-inequality. 38 World Bank. 2018. “Education Reform Project.” Education Global Practice. Europe and Cen- tral Asia Region. Washington DC: World Bank. http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/ en/207651519009223645/pdf/Moldova-Education-PP-01302018.pdf. 39 One example of press coverage is shown in: Constanta. 2021. “Inspectoratul Şcolar va distribui 2.406 de laptopuri pentru elevi discriminaţi, romi, celor care provin din familii cu venituri mici.” https://adevarul.ro/locale/constanta/inspectoratul-Scolar-distribui-2406-laptopuri-elevi-dis- criminati-romi-celor-provin-familii-venituri-mici-1_606eb92d5163ec4271bc9ace/index.html. 22 Learning Recovery after COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia: Policy and Practice 40 World Bank and UNESCO. 2021. “Education Finance Watch 2021.” Global Monitoring report. Washington DC: World Bank. https://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/507681613998942297/ EFW-Report-2021-2-19.pdf. 41 Anderson, Julia, Enrico Bergamini, Sybrand Brekelmans, Aliénor Cameron, Zsolt Darvas, Marta Domínguez Jiménez, Klaes Lenaerts, and Catarina Midões. 2020. The Fiscal Response to the Economic Fallout from the Coronavirus. The Bruegel Newsletter November 24, 2020. Brus- sels: Bruegel. https://www.bruegel.org/publications/datasets/covid-national-dataset/. 42 Johnson, Paul. 2020. “A Bad Time to Graduate.” Observation. London: Institute for Fiscal Stud- ies. https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14816; Altonji, Joseph G., Lisa B. Kahn, and Jamin D. Speer. 2015. “Cashier or Consultant? Entry Labor Market Conditions, Field of Study, and Ca- reer Success.” Journal of Labor Economics, 2016, vol. 34, no. 1. https://www.journals.uchicago. edu/doi/10.1086/682938. 43 Of all ECA countries, only Turkey, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan had positive rates of growth in 2020. World Bank. 2021. “Data, Digitalization and Governance.” Europe and Central Asia Economic Update (Spring). Washington DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/han- dle/10986/35273. 44 World Bank. 2020. “The World Bank’s Education Response to COVID-19. 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Paris: OECD. https://oecdedutoday.com/shadows-coronavirus-educa- tion-crisis/. 72 World Bank. 2019. Ending Learning Poverty: What Will It Take? Washington, DC: World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/32553. 73 Republic of Turkey. 2020. Turkey’s Education Vision 2023. Ministry of National Education, Ankara. https://2023vizyonu.meb.gov.tr/doc/2023_VIZYON_ENG.pdf. Disclaimer: This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Nothing herein shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved. Photo credits: All pictures used in this brief are collected by the World Bank staff during the analytical and project work in ECA. Editing and formatting This note benefited from the editing support of Fiona Mackintosh, and designing and credits: formatting by Elizaveta Tarasova. 25