Pandemic Effect: UNICEF Reports More Children In Poorer Countries Can't Read

Almost two years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, its impact pierced through many aspects of our lives beyond just health. As United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund's (UNICEF) recent report showed, the COVID-19 pandemic has also caused disruptions in children's education.

Last January 2022, during the International Day of Education, UNICEF reported that over 616 million students are affected by school closures as part of COVID-19 restrictions.

"70% of 10-year-olds unable to read or understand a simple text, up from 53% pre-pandemic."

Sharing findings of the impact of the pandemic on children's learning, the organization sounded the alarm on the 'nearly insurmountable' education loss during the pandemic. (Read UNICEF's report here)

"In March, we will mark two years of COVID-19-related disruptions to global education. Quite simply, we are looking at a nearly insurmountable scale of loss to children's schooling," the UNICEF Chief of Education Robert Jenkins said.

Moreover, the report stated, "Globally, disruption to education has meant millions of children have significantly missed out on the academic learning they would have acquired if they had been in the classroom, with younger and more marginalized children facing the greatest loss."

One of the most striking findings from the UN children's agency report was that more 10-year-old children in poorer nations are already behind the learning curve, specifically when it comes to literacy skills. 

"In low- and middle-income countries, learning losses to school closures have left up to 70% of 10-year-olds unable to read or understand a simple text, up from 53% pre-pandemic," the report read.

Education in the Philippine amid the COVID-19 pandemic

It was last November 15, 2021, when the Department of Education (DepEd) gave the go signal for schools in low-risk areas to reopen and hold face-to-face classes. The pilot implementation was only opened to Kinder to Grade 3 plus senior high students.

As vaccination of minors, 12 to 17, began in the country last November 2021 and its recent expansion to include ages 5 to 11 last February 7, 2022, DepEd eyes to allow more schools to open for limited face-to-face classes this year.

UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov acknowledged the unprecedented challenges the pandemic posed on children. She said, "The associated consequences of school closures – learning loss, mental distress, missed vaccinations, and heightened risk of drop out, child labour, and child marriage – will be felt by many children, especially the youngest learners in critical development stages."

This proved to be true for many Filipino children when the country shifted to blended learning. A lot of families do not have access to technology or internet connection, which are the primary tools for online classes. Parents also struggled with this setup as not all are equipped with the skills or even the time to focus on their children's classes. (Read World Bank report on learning poverty in the Philippines in 2021 here)

The student themselves also face challenges with distance learning. Citing exhaustion with online classes, there have been numerous times when the hashtags #PagodNaKami #AcademicBreakNow trended on social media. 

This is where Jenkins' note comes in when he said, "While the disruptions to learning must end, just reopening schools is not enough. Students need intensive support to recover lost education."

What parents can do to develop children's reading skills

Parents are children's primary educators. And for sure, as a parent, you have already wondered at what age your child should start reading by themselves. A quick Google search will pop up articles saying it is around ages 4 to 6 that kids begin to develop their reading skills.

As we always say, not all children are at pace when it comes to growth and development, but there are things you can do to help your children develop their literacy skills.

Below, we are republishing tips and appropriate practices that help develop the reading skills of your child, adapted from a list by Lesia Oesterreich, M.S., a Family Life Extension Specialist at the Human Development and Family Studies Department of Iowa University. (Read the full article here)

• Try to talk to your children as often as possible using short sentences. It is also encouraged for you to ask them questions and listen to them as they express themselves.
• Provide them with children's books, and read those same books to them. Then, encourage them to repeat the story and try to discuss the ideas and events of the story.
• Encourage them to tell stories to younger children.
• You may also read them poetry and nursery rhymes to them and with them.
• Read titles of stories and point to important words on pages, packages, as well as street signs.
• Read aloud each day and encourage them to look at books on their own.
• Provide alternative reading material for your children with a collection of outdated coupons, junk mail, newspaper ads, and old cereal boxes.
• Add drama to your reading sessions and use different voices for different characters.
• When reading a familiar story, stop before the end and let them add their own end to the story.

Read 5 ways to encourage your child to love reading books here.