SHORT SUMMARY

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education provision at an unprecedented scale, with education systems around the world being impacted by extended school closures and abrupt changes to normal school operations. The Responses to Educational Disruption Survey (REDS) investigated how teaching and learning were affected by the health crisis, and how education stakeholders responded to the educational disruption across and within countries. The study aimed to provide a systemic, multi-perspective, and comparative picture of the situation at the secondary education level (grade eight) in 11 countries spanning Africa, Asia, Arab region, Europe, and Latin America.
 

While many other efforts exist that collect and provide similar information, they are mostly derived from non-representative rapid surveys and lack internationally comparable information from schools, collected in a systematic and scientific manner.
 

The REDS International Report presents unique data, collected from countries, schools, teachers, and students for the first time, in chapters that cover several themes on which data were collected which include student and teacher well-being, students’ academic progress during the school closures, and the measures countries have implemented to keep all children learning.
 

Initial findings provide evidence for better orienting and tailoring policy responses to crisis and provide invaluable information on what may be required to accelerate education, recover from crisis, and to strengthen the resilience of education systems in the future.