This report by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is the result of a two-year long study that was undertaken by more than 300 experts from 45 countries. It reveals that school closures, due to COVID-19, are still affecting over 400 million pupils worldwide with children having missed at least half of their in-person learning for the past two years.
The report points towards an education that employs a cognitive-emotional approach to learning, and for education policymaking to be guided by science and evidence in the future.
Decades of progress in education are constantly threatened by conflicts, such as the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the report finding that more than a third (37%) of primary school-aged refugee children are out of school and only 24% have access to secondary school education. Access to higher education is a dismal 3% among refugee populations.
The report suggests re-envisioning the future of education to build more resilient and sustainable education systems that can weather the current crisis.
The report also asks governments to realise that personalised education for continued development is a human right for every learner and calls for increased investment in education, which must be directed to a cognitive-emotional whole brain-approach to education. Furthermore, the report advocates for future education policy to be guided by science and evidence and multidisciplinary dialogue.