ED Widening learning gap

Schools should activate in-person classes despite pandemic

The severity of a gap in educational achievement triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has been verified in a report released Tuesday by the Seoul Education Policy Institute affiliated with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. There have been concerns about a widening learning gap among students because of remote learning that has become prevalent during the pandemic and the latest findings are quite significant, considering that the report is based on exam results from 382 middle schools in Seoul.

Researchers analyzed the Korean, English and math scores of students and found that the percentage of students belonging to the middle rank fell during the pandemic, while the ratio of students in the lower rank rose, suggesting that “educational polarization” has become severe. Students were divided into two groups ― one consisting of students who were second graders in 2018 and the other consisting of students who were second graders in 2019 ― to compare their achievement levels.

The result showed that the achievement gap in the second group affected by the pandemic was larger. Specifically, the percentage of students belonging to the middle rank in the second group dropped by 12.95, 8.84 and 14.91 percentage points in Korean, English and math, respectively, which was far greater than in the first group. This is interpreted as meaning that educational polarization has become worse as students in the second group received online classes for an extended period of time last year when they were third graders.

The increasing learning gap has been widely anticipated as teaching was mostly done remotely. Students with access to various learning opportunities outside school have had fewer problems with online teaching, while those who completely relied on teachers have had to endure losses in learning opportunities because of the reduced time interacting with them. The bottom line is that it's better to keep schools open. The question is whether schools can activate in-person classes while keeping students safe against the spread of COVID-19. The government should do whatever it can to stop the learning gap from widening further before it's too late.