Cambodian Children Experience Extensive "learning Loss" During Pandemic: Research
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published April 05, 2022 | 01:22 PM
Cambodia's Ministry of Education and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday jointly revealed alarming new findings about learning loss experienced by Cambodian students during the COVID-19 pandemic
PHNOM PENH, April 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Apr, 2022 ) :Cambodia's Ministry of Education and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday jointly revealed alarming new findings about learning loss experienced by Cambodian students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The results emerged from the ministry's latest National Grade six Learning Assessment, which was conducted in November 2021 on more than 6,000 students in 230 schools across Cambodia and found that children had fallen behind in their learning during the pandemic, said a joint statement.
"Compared to the last equivalent learning assessment in 2016, the percentage of students who failed to demonstrate basic proficiency increased from 34 percent to 45 percent in Khmer language and from 49 percent to 74 percent in mathematics," the statement said.
Schools in Cambodia were closed for 250 days during 2020 and 2021, the equivalent of almost two thirds of the two school years. The learning assessment results reveal that although all students experienced learning loss after these closures, the impact was not evenly distributed.
"These are worrying results," said Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron. "We worked hard with all our partners to put in place remote learning measures for students when schools were closed during the pandemic.
" Naron said the studies have shown that these measures did help to maintain learning for many, but the learning assessment results confirm that these activities simply couldn't be enough to compensate for all that is lost by children when they are not learning in a classroom.
"It's now time for us all to try and help Cambodian children catch up with the learning they have lost, a process that has begun but must now be accelerated with the support of every partner in the education sector," he added.
Foroogh Foyouzat, UNICEF representative in Cambodia, said globally, learning loss is perceived as one of the most damaging consequences of the pandemic, but Cambodia is one of the few countries that have proved its extent with hard data.
"We must also invest more in early grade mathematics and Khmer literacy," she said. "Young students need a solid foundation in these core subjects for better outcomes in later grades. At UNICEF, we pledge an all-out effort with all our partners to help make this happen."Schools throughout the southeast Asian nation have reopened since November last year after most of the population have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
4-day book fair opens
30 wheelchairs donated
11 dead, 1295 injured in road accidents
46 vehicles impounded for traffic violations
PSX gains 771 points
PITB HR Wing organizes Eid Milan celebration for children at PITB Day Care Cente ..
Cabinet briefed on progress of PIA privatization
Meeting held to streamline trade between Pak-Afghan , Central Asian Republics
SONY x TECNO - is this for real?
Progress of Aaghosh, Bunyad, Khud Mukhtar programs discussed
SBP to announce monetary policy on April 29
London stocks hit new record peak on takeovers
More Stories From Health
-
Vaccines save at least 154 million lives in 50 years: WHO
2 days ago -
UHS to issue MBBS degrees within three months after final result
2 days ago -
Rawalpindi woman gives birth to six babies
7 days ago -
DC calls for intensive anti-polio drive in ICT
8 days ago -
World Hemophilia Day observed to underscore importance of providing comprehensive care
9 days ago -
Six in a family with heart on the 'right side'
9 days ago
-
Diabetic disease increasing rapidly : Dr. Noor Elahi Memon
9 days ago -
World Hemophilia Day observed
9 days ago -
ATC dismisses bail petition of doctor involved in illegal kidneys transplant
17 days ago -
Dr. Shehzad warns against deviation from WHO guidelines on anti-smoking
17 days ago -
Health activists express concerns over attempts to derail tobacco control
19 days ago -
UHS declares MBBS first prof, MS urology exam results
28 days ago