COVID-19’S IMPACT ON LEARNING LOSSES AND LEARNING INEQUALITY IN COLOMBIA

The COVID-19 pandemic’s toll on humanity worldwide cannot be overstated. To date, over 6 million deaths across the globe have been documented. Economic growth globally slowed down, and many more individuals fell into poverty. The World Bank estimates that, due to the pandemic, about 97 million more people are living in poverty, and the global poverty rate will increase from 7.8 to 9.1 percent. Even as the global economy is beginning to bounce back, the pandemic will lead to rising poverty and widening inequality across the world. Meanwhile, leading global institutions, as well as governments, have been primarily focused on mitigating the spread of COVID-19 through vaccines, tests and treatments, and fiscal and monetary policies to set the conditions needed for private investment, job creation, and economic growth. The urgent need to implement policies and programs to mitigate the lasting impacts of the COVID19 school closures on learning have received much less attention globally.