The impact of Covid-19 disruptions on primary education: Evidence from the national grade 5 scholarship examination in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in prolonged school closures. In Sri Lanka, schools closed in March 2020 and remained closed for most of the next two years. This paper investigates the impact of these disruptions on primary school students using Grade 5 scholarship examination results between 2017 and 2022 and changes in mobility resulting from state-mandated restrictions. Using panel regressions, the analysis finds that while reduced mobility negatively affected examination results, the effects were largest for students in wealthier zones. These results suggest some levelling of the playing field amid worse outcomes across the board, at least for this examination.