The International Monetary Fund warns that closing schools during the pandemic may have a lasting impact on the economyInternet cloning
Posted on 05/17/2022 01:02 PM
School closures during the Covid-19 pandemic have hurt children’s learning levels in many G20 countries, and this could have a lasting economic impact, with the potential for significant reductions in GDP in advanced economies. International Monetary Fund (IMF), this Tuesday (17).
Recent assessments of primary and secondary school students have shown that widespread virtual learning during the pandemic has translated into poorer school levels in India, Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil and the United States. In these countries, some schools have been closed for more than a year.
“If these learning losses are not compensated for, the affected students may suffer a decline in their earnings throughout their lives,” the fund warned in a report.
The body’s economists have found that, for decades to come, today’s students will make up nearly 40% of the working-age population in the G-20 economies.
“While there are many unknowns, our simulations show that when all of these students are in the workforce, the GDP of the G-20 advanced economies can be 3% lower in the long run” than pre-pandemic estimates.
As expected, children from the poorest places will suffer the worst learning losses, with the prospects “which could especially diminish, further deepening income inequality”.
“It is estimated that if incomplete learning is not corrected during the pandemic, this could translate into income losses of 1.5% to 10% over people’s lives” from the G20 countries.
