Current students generation risks losing $17 Tln in lifetime earnings

The current students’ generation risks losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value as a result of COVID-19-related school closures, says a World Bank-UNESCO-UNICEF report published on Tuesday.

According to The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery report, the new projection reveals that the impact is more severe than previously thought, as it far exceeds the $10 trillion estimates released in 2020.

The share of children living in learning poverty (i.e. inability to read and understand a simple text by age of 10), already 53% before the pandemic, could potentially reach 70% given the long school closures and the ineffectiveness of remote learning to ensure full learning continuity during school closures. “The COVID-19 crisis brought education systems across the world to a halt,” said Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Global Director for Education. “Now, 21 months later, schools remain closed for millions of children, and others may never return to school.”

“The loss of learning that many children are experiencing is morally unacceptable. And the potential increase of learning poverty might have a devastating impact on future productivity, earnings, and well-being for this generation of children and youth, their families, and the world’s economies.”