In 2017, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's Institute for Statistics reported that 617 million children and adolescents worldwide were not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics. The World Bank in 2019 estimated that about half the children in low- and lower-middle income countries could not read a simple paragraph at age 10. Learning poverty is based on the notion that every child should be in school and be able to read an age-appropriate text by age 10.
Studies have also shown that children who are not reading at grade level are more likely to drop out of school. This is even more so for children experiencing poverty as low proficiency in reading means they are unable to use reading skills to excel in other subjects.
Source:
https://www.worldbank.org
A United Nations Children's Fund study on urban child poverty in Kuala Lumpur in 2018 found that 51 per cent who are 5 and 6 are not attending preschool and 13 per cent who are at the end of their lower secondary school age are not proficient in reading. Due to Covid-19, an additional 10 per cent of children globally will fall into learning poverty.
The disruptions to education systems worldwide reinforce the societal divide among students, especially those who are from vulnerable communities as they lack digital infrastructure and their home environments are not conducive to learning. This can be seen in Pahang, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak. About 52 per cent of students in Sabah did not have access to the Internet, smartphones, computers or mobile gadgets for online learning. More than 50 per cent of students in Sarawak had no Internet access or electronic devices to follow online learning at home during the lockdown. Even in the Klang Valley, many are struggling because of the lack of a conducive home environment and suitable resources.
A survey by the Education Ministry on teaching and learning online involving 670,000 parents with 900,000 pupils found 6.0 per cent had personal computers, 5.67 per cent had tablets, 9.0 per cent had laptops and 46 per cent had smartphones. While some are fortunate to have their own space, devices, connectivity and other facilities, others continue to lack the same.
The inability to read slams the learning gate shut; students will face hardship in learning other areas, such as math, science and humanities. The pandemic has forced the most vulnerable students into the least desirable learning situations as they face challenges in receiving the quality education they deserve. We need to address these challenges today to build a better future for the youth of tomorrow.
In addition, progress in reducing learning poverty is far too slow to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (“SDG”) aspirations. At the current rate of improvement, in 2030 about 43% of children will still be learning-poor. Even if countries reduce their learning poverty at the fastest rates we have seen so far in this century, the goal of ending it will not be attained by 2030.
There is an urgent need for a society-wide commitment to invest more. If children cannot read, all education SDGs are at risk. Eliminating learning poverty is as important as eliminating extreme monetary poverty, stunting, or hunger. To achieve it in the foreseeable future requires far more rapid progress at scale than we have yet seen.
References:
We need to work together to address learning poverty, Hema Letchamanan, New Straits Times, 20 January 2022
What is learning poverty? The World Bank, 28 April 2021
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