 "A health worker testing for Covid-19 collects swab samples from children who live in a slum Kolkata Monday, Sept. 6, 2021. (PTI photo.)")
Economic lockdowns hurt output, but once they’re lifted, activity usually bounces back, and jobs return. School lockouts, by comparison, may have a longer and more pernicious effect.
A new survey of nearly 1,400 underprivileged school children across 15 Indian states raises some disturbing possibilities. A year-and-a-half of pandemic-related school closures, for instance, have created a four-year learning deficit. A student who was in Grade 3 before Covid-19 is now in Grade 5, and will soon enter middle school, but with reading abilities of a Grade 1 pupil.
Trying to narrow this gap would put enormous demands on a reluctant welfare
