ILO Sectoral Brief: COVID-19 and the Education Sector

As of 13 April 2020, schools and universities have been closed in most countries around the world in an attempt to limit the spread of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Nationwide closures have been mandated in 192 countries, interrupting learning for close to 1.58 billion learners (91.4 per cent of total enrolled learners) and prompting almost all education systems to deploy distance learning solutions. The disruption has also impacted the work of more than 63 million primary and secondary school teachers, as well as countless education support personnel. It has also affected early childhood education personnel, technical and vocational training personnel and higher education teachers.

Information from ILO projects to eliminate child labour indicates that school children who had been in or were at risk of child labour are less likely to access distance learning. In such disadvantaged communities, the quality of distance learning, usually low-tech or notech, may be poor. The risk that school systems will experience high rates of drop out, during the pandemic and in its aftermath, and that child labour will increase is clear.

Ensuring that quality learning continues in its new adopted forms during the crisis requires that teachers have access to adequately resourced and safe teaching environments and decent working conditions. Early experiences with teachers as they navigate the responses to COVID-19 have focused on professional support and training, occupational safety and health, employment and working conditions, and involvement in education responses.