930,000 students may not be returning to schools in Pakistan due to COVID-19: WB

Pakistan will lose a larger share of students from its school system than any other country with an estimated 930,000 additional children dropping out of schools due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In its report, the World Bank (WB) says that Pakistan is globally the country where they expect the highest dropouts due to the coronavirus crisis. The dropout rate has increased to 4.2% as 22 million are already out of schools, the report says.

The WB estimate that school closures during the pandemic will result in a loss between 0.3 and 0.8 years of learning-adjusted schooling for the average student. “Pakistani children currently spend 9.1 years in school on average, but they only accumulate 5.1 years of learning due to low quality of the school system,” said the report.

It added that the already low number could fall between 4.8 and 4.3 years by the time schools have fully reopened. Meanwhile, in the intermediate scenario, this is expected to fall by 0.6 years of learning-adjusted schooling.

The report further said that Learning Poverty will also increase from 75 percent to 79 percent. Learning Poverty is defined as the share of children who do not learn to read and understand a simple text by age 10.

"The share of children who do not learn to read by age 10 (even if they are in school) is expected to increase by 2.7 percentage points from 47.3 percent to 50 percent," WB said.

While talking about remote learning, WB said that only 30 percent of households are aware of remote learning. 1 in 3 families who know about remote learning actually use remote learning, the report said.

According to the report, an estimated 98 percent of households from the wealthiest quintile in Pakistan has access to internet or television, compared to only 15 percent of households from the poorest quintile.

The WB has said that the government may influence these numbers by taking appropriate action now that schools have reopened. It called on the government to organize an enrollment drive and leverage cash transfers so as to avoid dropouts.

WB also said the government should strengthen curricula, support teachers and improve access to remote learning by expanding connectivity, device ownership.

"COVID-19 affects everyone, but we cannot let the youngest and most vulnerable members of society suffer from a crisis that threatens their present and their future," WB said.