Abstract:
Purpose – Over 2020-2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a severe impact on global efforts to ensure all children receive a quality education. Pakistan is no exception. School closures to limit the spread of COVID-19 have directly impacted an estimated 40 million school-going learners from pre-primary to higher-secondary levels in Pakistan, where school enrolment, completion and quality of learning are already low, especially for girls. As stated in the ASER 2021 (ASER, 2021) report, “School closures to limit the spread of COVID-19 have directly impacted an estimated 40 million school-going learners from pre-primary to higher secondary levels, in a context where school enrolment, completion and quality of learning are already low, especially for girls” (p.6). On average, about 60 per cent of children enrolled in schools spent less than an hour a day on their studies during school closures.
Research question – What has been the impact of COVID-19 Learning Loss across the Pakistani Catholic School Sector?
Context - This study is collecting baseline data across seven Catholic dioceses in Pakistan interrogating the extent to which the pandemic has influenced this sector in both urban and rural settings. This study has selected Catholic schools across Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pukthunwa provinces. There are currently 244 schools in Pakistan across these dioceses with 95304 students enrolled, (56,557 - male and 38747 female students). Over 2000 online surveys have been collected (Completion: September 2024).
Approach to inquiry – Using an online survey tool has assisted researchers in gauging the extent to which learning deficits and challenges are currently being faced within these schools in 2023-24, after having been three years through the pandemic. The survey tool identifies viable school strategies used to address these challenges. This tool is being administered to a stratified sample of school leaders, teachers and administrative staff in this school sector.
Evidence – The baseline data collected through this study contributes towards laying the groundwork towards establishing communities of practice (CoPs) across the seven dioceses. Initially, over 2023-24 focus is on developing leadership capacity across the dioceses. From 2025 onwards, targeting the development of teacher pedagogy in Mathematics and English and/or Urdu will be undertaken. These CoPs will develop teaching and learning resources together within each diocese to assist with addressing the learning deficits of their students identified through this baseline dataset and assisting in building up focused school improvement within this school system over the next 5 years.
Research question – What has been the impact of COVID-19 Learning Loss across the Pakistani Catholic School Sector?
Context - This study is collecting baseline data across seven Catholic dioceses in Pakistan interrogating the extent to which the pandemic has influenced this sector in both urban and rural settings. This study has selected Catholic schools across Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pukthunwa provinces. There are currently 244 schools in Pakistan across these dioceses with 95304 students enrolled, (56,557 - male and 38747 female students). Over 2000 online surveys have been collected (Completion: September 2024).
Approach to inquiry – Using an online survey tool has assisted researchers in gauging the extent to which learning deficits and challenges are currently being faced within these schools in 2023-24, after having been three years through the pandemic. The survey tool identifies viable school strategies used to address these challenges. This tool is being administered to a stratified sample of school leaders, teachers and administrative staff in this school sector.
Evidence – The baseline data collected through this study contributes towards laying the groundwork towards establishing communities of practice (CoPs) across the seven dioceses. Initially, over 2023-24 focus is on developing leadership capacity across the dioceses. From 2025 onwards, targeting the development of teacher pedagogy in Mathematics and English and/or Urdu will be undertaken. These CoPs will develop teaching and learning resources together within each diocese to assist with addressing the learning deficits of their students identified through this baseline dataset and assisting in building up focused school improvement within this school system over the next 5 years.