The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children’s Learning and Wellbeing: Evidence from India

Andrea Guariso and Björkman Nyqvist, Martina

No 17917, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated school closure on primary school children’s learning and mental wellbeing in Assam, India. Using a comprehensive dataset that tracked and repeatedly surveyed approximately 5,000 children across 200 schools between 2018 and 2022, we find that children lost the equivalent of nine months of learning in mathematics and eleven months in language, during the pandemic. Children lacking resources and parental support experienced the largest losses. Regular practice, teacher interaction, and technology helped sustain learning. Over the same period, children’s psychological wellbeing improved. Our research provides valuable insights for designing post-emergency programs.

Date: 2023-02
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP17917 (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17917

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP17917

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers Centre for Economic Policy Research, 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().