Pandemic reduced educational opportunities for children – 12/17/2023 – Education

Director for 20 years of a public school with students from pre-school to 5th grade, in the rural area of ​​the Federal District, educator Socorro Xavier Ritter, 52, does not hesitate when asked whether the educational situation has returned to the pre-pandemic stage: ” It hasn’t normalized, no. I still see many years of challenges ahead”, he says.

The Sonhém de Cima school is located in Sobradinho, an administrative region, 40 km from the center of Brasília. It serves 170 children who, in general, come from families in vulnerable situations. Until 2019, the director had the progress of all students in reading and writing under control. And the pandemic came like an avalanche on the results.

“We have visibly noticed the impact that the pandemic has had on these children,” says Ritter. “Those activities that we took to families during the time when schools were closed encountered barriers because parents do not have knowledge, they are not teachers.”

An unprecedented study shows that inequalities in educational opportunities increased in 2021 and 2022, especially when taking into account the literacy of children aged 7 and 8. The scenario is revealed in research by IMDS (Mobility and Social Development Institute), based on the calculation of the so-called Educational Opportunities Index.

The instrument considers the distribution of certain opportunities (such as completing a stage of education at the appropriate age, school attendance and access to water) according to certain circumstances (such as parents’ education and socioeconomic level). It thus seeks to measure impacts that go beyond individual efforts.

When taking into account the literacy of children aged 7 and 8, the opportunity index fell from 84% in 2020 to 67% in 2022.

This index reaches its maximum value when the penalty is zero, which means that coverage — in this case, literate children — is universal and there are no inequalities in the educational opportunities offered. “This metric provides a comprehensive and sensitive assessment of educational opportunities, taking into account both the extent of coverage and equity among different groups,” says the study.

To measure literacy, the indicator uses data from Pnad (National Household Sample Survey), from IBGE, which reflects parents’ responses about whether their children know how to read or write. Saeb data from 2021, a federal assessment of basic education, however, has already shown that this phase was the most affected.

The greater the penalty —which are factors that influence coverage differently for certain groups—, the greater the inequality. In 2022, the indicator calculated for the penalty reached 7% for this group. The highest level in a historical series calculated since 2012, when it was 5%. When calculated by state, it reaches 13% in Sergipe and, at the other end, 4% in Santa Catarina.

When analyzing the contribution of characteristics defined as circumstances to the inequality observed in the index related to literacy, the biggest penalties have to do with parental education (34% weight) and per capita income (31%). Skin color accounts for 4% in Brazil, but reaches 14% in the Southeast region.

More than half of the families among the 20% most vulnerable in the country have parents with incomplete primary education. “If you know that the main determinants are parental education and family income, it is necessary to think about integrated policies”, says economist Paulo Tafner, director of IMDS.

The number of children in the household has a weight of 15% in the composition of inequality. Next, the type of area where you live, urban or rural, appears, with a share of 12%.

Mother of eight children, three of them at preschool age or in the early years of primary school, Julia Gracielle Santos, 43, lives in the rural area of ​​Sobradinho. She, who only studied up to the 7th grade, says she had a lot of difficulty helping her children with their homework during the pandemic.

“The school is very good, I have nothing to complain about, but I feel the boys are still very slow. They are weak, but with the help of the teachers, and I also demand, they will improve”, she says. “During the pandemic, things were much worse. Schoolwork came home, but we couldn’t explain it properly. It’s with the teacher that he’s developing.”

Julia says that she lives off small jobs and that her husband works in the fields, building fences, corrals and doing farm work. The monthly family income does not reach two minimum wages.

Insper professor Laura Machado says that the data is serious because the penalties, which generate inequalities, are very high in literacy, “where the conversation begins”. For her, they highlight an educational problem that explodes years later.

“Maybe these children who are not properly literate will go through [de ano], reach the final years without learning and it starts to take a toll. And they start to evade”, she says, who is a columnist for Sheet. “The problem in high school is often a consequence of these gaps.”

Two other daughters of Julia Santos stopped studying before completing high school. But she says she hopes they return to the classroom, a dream that she still harbors. “I’m boring, I didn’t finish school, but I stay strong. When I have the opportunity, I want to finish my studies. But for us, who are humble, things are more difficult.”

The evolution of opportunities between 2012 and 2022 maintained stability in the 11 and 12 year old group, when taking into account the completion of the initial years. The penalty was 4%, the same value as in 2020, but below the 7% calculated for 2012.

When analyzing the completion of the final years at 15 and 16 years old, there is an increase in the rate of opportunities throughout the historical series. This also occurs when taking into account the completion of secondary education for young people aged 18 and 19, although the rates are lower: they went from 37% in 2012 to 54% in 2022.

Also in this group, parental education (42%) and income (19%) have the greatest weight as variables of inequality. Skin color, in turn, reaches its highest rate, 9% on the country average. In the Southeast, this weight reaches 22%.

Inequality is greater in mathematics learning in high school

The IMDS study also has a chapter that incorporates the Saeb results. This calculates the index of educational opportunities in reaching the level of learning considered adequate by students in the 5th and 9th years of primary education and in the 3rd year of secondary education.

Inequality grows as the grades go by. The worst level is in mathematics performance in the last year of high school, a subject in which Brazilian students have the worst results.

While only 9% reach the appropriate level of learning —also calculated in the study—, the inequality rate is 42%. The opportunity indicator, in turn, is 9%. On the other hand, when analyzing Portuguese language averages in the 5th year, inequality is 12%, and opportunity is 61%.

“The years of study have increased over time, inequality on average has decreased. With the exception of literacy, which was expected. But we are not offering our students quality compatible with the needs of today’s world”, says Tafner, from IMDS.

For Laura Machado, from Insper, the educational system has not been able to deal with family inequalities. “It’s a challenge that education has to face. When a child is a child of the pandemic, from a vulnerable family or a victim of the Amazon drought, they are an inherent part of society. They cannot become the reason why it didn’t work.”