Crisis upon a crisis: COVID-19 and the education emergency
Zoe Cohen is the Secretariat Coordinator of the International
Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd), the first global
parliamentary network dedicated to education. IPNEd seeks to grow
and deepen political understanding of and commitment to inclusive
and equitable quality education for all.
In mid-April 2020, 1.6 billion children and young people found their
education disrupted. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic forced
schools and education institutions across the world to close, leaving
learners in over 190 countries to contend with severe interruptions to
their education.
As countries across the world have implemented pandemic-response
strategies, the return to, or continued closure of, schools has remained
contentious. The International Parliamentary Network for Education
(IPNEd) has been supporting MPs to navigate the implications of
COVID-19 for education. Whilst there is no zero-risk strategy for the
reopening of schools, a lot can be done to ensure they are safe places
to learn.
In Argentina, IPNEd member Diputada Brenda Lis Austin has led a
powerful campaign for the return of face-to-face teaching 1, and on
17 February 2021 children from five of Argentina’s regional districts
began to return to school for the first time in almost a year 2. In some
countries, school reopening was strongly prioritised in government
response plans. Sierra Leone, for example, supported by learnings
from the 2014 Ebola outbreak, authorised the reopening of all schools
by 5 October 2020 3.
However, for millions of children, the reopening of schools does not
mean a return to learning. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, 258
million children and young people were already out of school 4.
Characteristics including gender, disability and ethnicity have played
a significant role in children’s likelihood to attend and remain in
school. Moreover, 330 million children were in school but not learning
the basics 5.
Children affected by displacement, crises and emergencies face
additional and protracted obstacles to education. In 2019, over half of
all school-age refugee children were out of school 6.
Projections have found that the pandemic will substantially increase
the number of children out of school for the first time in decades. The
Malala Fund has estimated that half of refugee girls in secondary
school will not return to school due to COVID-19 7.
For most children around the world, COVID-19 presented an
unprecedented education emergency. For refugee and crisis-affected
children, disrupted learning is commonplace. For these children,
COVID-19 is a crisis upon a crisis.
Although the global recovery from the pandemic remains
unpredictable, education responses must build on lessons from
COVID-19 to strengthen education system resilience, implement
learner-centred remedial programmes, and retain a focus on the
children left furthest behind.
International support for and investment in Education Cannot Wait,
the only global fund dedicated to education in emergencies and
protracted crises, will also be crucial to securing an equitable return
to learning.
Political leadership at each of the national, regional and international
levels will be vital to ensuring a sustainable recovery from COVID-19.
IPNEd is supporting parliamentarians to champion education,
reaching across political divides, regions and the world. In the National
Assembly of Pakistan, for example, IPNEd Regional Representative for
Asia, MNA Mehnaz Akber Aziz, has been working with her colleagues
to advocate for the prioritisation of education and the furthest behind
in the COVID-recovery.
In a post-COVID world, the political will to ensure children can access
learning must be redoubled.
For marginalised children, and particularly those affected by crises
and emergencies, COVID-19 has not created an education emergency,
it has exacerbated a pre-existing one.
IPNEd is working with MPs to ensure that as the world recovers from
the global health crisis, the education emergency is not forgotten.
With less than a decade left to achieve SDG 4, a generation of children
may never return to school. The international community must come
together and redouble our commitment to ensuring the return to
school and learning truly is, for all.
1
twitter.com/brendalisaustin/status/1359294032376180738?s=20
2
batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/schools-in-argentina-finally-re-open-doors-for-students.phtml
3
snradio.net/ministry-of-basic-education-issues-official-school-re-opening-guidelines/
4
uis.unesco.org/en/topic/out-school-children-and-youth
5
report.educationcommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Learning_Generation_Full_
Report.pdf
6
www.unhcr.org/steppingup/wp-content/uploads/sites/76/2019/09/Education-Report-2019-
Final-web-9.pdf
7
www.globalpartnership.org/blog/displacement-girls-education-and-covid-19
Article from Engage issue 22.
BY ZOE COHEN • July 9, 2021
Mike Fleetham of Thinking Classroom has written a book " Headlines: Inspiration, humour and advice for school leaders ". A collection of original ideas, advice from professionals, quotes, and tips to support and inspire all leaders. Perfect for new and established leaders working in education, especially headteachers. "Being a headteacher is like looking both ways before you cross the road, and then getting hit by an aeroplane." To Enter the Competition To win a copy of Headlines please share your inspiring education or life lesson in no more than 600 words. The winning article will also be published in our next edition of Engage. Send your words of inspiration to admin@stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk 📅 Deadline: 5th September 2025 Stuck on Ideas? Here are some questions and prompts to get you started! What’s the one lesson school didn’t teach you, but life did? Think of a moment that changed your path, what happened? What piece of advice has helped you grow the most? When did a challenge turn into an opportunity for you? What story from your life would inspire someone on the other side of the world? What’s the life lesson that unlocked your next chapter? Your words could uplift, empower and be seen by many. Let your story inspire the world! 🌍💡 Good luck and we cant wait to read all the entries!
This week our CEO Ann and Jude (SSF Ambassador) visited schools in Coventry and heard about the wonderful work that students are doing to foster peace and community connection, as part of Coventry Arts Week. We visited Lyng Hall school in the morning and met with Ms Hagan and four of the schools UNESCO ASPnet ambassadors. They told us all about their recent project. The students took their art and poetry to the 80th Anniversary symposium in Ypres and Dunkirk. They shared with us some of the poetry they had written together with the students on the field trip and some of their own poems too. They also shared their future plans for working with their local primary school on peace and community. We also had the privilege of joining Ms Hagans class where they were looking at Caliban’s tale. Here is one of the students work
For my birthday this year I had the honour to walk 60 miles (yes it was a big 0 birthday) over 3 days to support the essential work of the Steve Sinnott Foundation of which I am CEO. Education in its many forms is essential for all of us to thrive and make the most of life's opportunities. The Foundation works to ensure that as many children and adults as possible across the globe can access the human right of education. The plan was to walk with friends and supporters who I hoped would keep me smiling along the way and it felt like a good way to make use of the Foundation’s “Get Moving” campaign. Here's how my Get Moving Fundraiser went on the first day. The 13th June I started my walk in London by walking from Barnet to west Hampstead and visiting my sister at her shop at Tree of Life where I got served a nice iced coffee to keep me going.
