Ensuring Safe and Inclusive Education Towards Lifelong Learning, Leading to Future Employment Readiness: Policy brief

Access to quality education is already an ongoing challenge for learners from poor families, learners with disabilities, and learners from rural areas even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and this has only exacerbated the inequalities. During the pandemic, over 1.6 billion learners have had their education disrupted by school closures, and children affected by discrimination and inequalities suffer the most. This comes at a time when the economic consequences of the pandemic could lead to shrinking education budgets as governments shift spending toward the health and economic responses to the crisis. Not to mention, the climate crisis and conflicts also worsen the situation. This implies that learners are lacking important skills required to thrive in a post-pandemic world which may contribute to the increased rate of youth unemployment.

This policy brief looks at crucial pathways and recommendations for the G20 leaders to strengthen efforts on educational recovery in the post-pandemic world.