The Covid-19 pandemic has caused schoolchildren to fall behind by about a third of a school year, according to an international study of around fifteen middle-to-high income countries. In Switzerland, this learning deficit is half as small.
The gaps are much greater in mathematics than in reading, the authors of this meta-analysis write on Monday in the journal Nature Human Behavior. Children of low socio-economic status suffered the most. This search compiled 42 studies carried out between March 2020 and August 2022 and from fifteen countries, including two from Switzerland.
Around the world, around 95% of children have been affected by school closures and physical and mental health issues have potentially worsened learning delays. These emerged early in the pandemic and then persisted.
In general, the delay recorded is greater in middle-income countries such as Brazil or Mexico than in Switzerland, the United States or the United Kingdom. The situation in low-income countries is not known, for lack of studies.
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