Abstract

Recent research on the effects of COVID-19 on school closures has mainly focused on primary and secondary education, with extremely limited attention to early childhood education (ECE). To address this gap, we identify the extent to which parents and caregivers with pre-primary school-aged children were engaged in their children’s learning during school closures in Ethiopia. Our focus on Ethiopia is of particular relevance given that ECE provision has expanded dramatically in recent years, aimed at ensuring children are prepared for primary school. Using data collected through a phone survey with 480 parents and caregivers, the results revealed that learning disruption due to COVID-19 school closures is likely to be substantial and will probably widen existing inequalities further. Many poorer households and those where parents or caregivers are not literate, are less likely to have child-oriented learning resources, and home learning activities between parents and children in these households are limited. The study highlights that greater attention needs to be paid to mitigate the threats of COVID-19 on Ethiopia’s recent gains in ECE, to prevent the pandemic from further reinforcing inequalities between children from advantaged and disadvantaged households.

Highlights

  • The outbreak of COVID-19, with its associated economic and social challenges, has led to serious consequences for the schooling of children worldwide

  • This paper aims to inform the government’s short, medium- to long-term COVID-19 response plan with respect to ECE, and to support key stakeholders in making evidence-based decisions to build the resilience of the early childhood education systems and respond adequately to any future crises

  • The survey results show that nearly 80% percent of parents and caregivers living with pre-primary school-aged children reported that their family experienced a loss of household income since the pandemic, with poorer families being disproportionately affected (81% in poorest households compared with 71% in richest households)

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Summary

Introduction

The outbreak of COVID-19, with its associated economic and social challenges, has led to serious consequences for the schooling of children worldwide. Most attention is currently being paid to the likely adverse effects on children’s learning in primary and secondary schools, with very little attention to ECE. While primary and secondary have received attention in the government’s COVID-19 response planning (Ministry of Education, 2020), there has not been a clear response strategy for ECE in the light of school closures. Schools started to re-open in Ethiopia from October 2020, little is known about the extent to which parents and caregivers had been able to support young children’s learning and wellbeing during school closures.

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