Education Crisis in South Asia: COVID to Cause $1 Trillion Losses
By Rejaul Karim Byron , Mohiuddin Alamgir
The prolonged closure of schools is causing an education crisis that may cost Bangladesh and other South Asian countries over $1 trillion in lost earnings in the long run, according to a World Bank report.
Schoolchildren could lose a whole year of learning due to the pandemic, said the report launched on Wednesday.
“A Bangladeshi student may lose as much as Tk 3,000 per month as a result of lost schooling. This is a serious loss. It could increase poverty,” Zahid Hussain, former lead economist of the WB’s Dhaka office, told The Daily Star.
The government should take immediate steps to make sure the digital devices needed for online education are available for all people in the urban and rural areas, he said.
“The report shows that Bangladesh’s education budget has increased. But it has increased as the allocation for the Rooppur [Nuclear Power Plant] Project was accounted for in the education budget… We need to increase the actual education budget.”
Photo courtesy of TESS India.
Source: The Daily Star (link opens in a new window)
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- Coronavirus, Education
