Last Mile Teachers

Emmanuel, a Luminos teacher, with his class in Loweh, Liberia (2019). Credit: Carielle Doe for the Luminos FundBy George K. Werner and Caitlin BaronKAMPALA, Uganda, Jul 30 2020 (IPS) “It has gotten really tough for us,” says James, a father in rural Liberia, of COVID-19 lockdown and school closures. “My son is trying but he is missing his friends and teachers. Children want to be in school.” “When Coronavirus passes, will your school still be there to help us with our children?” asks Fatu, a Liberian mother of six. Around the world, over one billion children are out of school. All will face learning losses (data from World War II and other crises offer grim indications on this) and far too many will be lost to learning forever. Estimates suggest the COVID-19 pandemic will cause this generation to lose $10 trillion in future earnings. Headlines exclaim that the global education system has never seen a moment like this and, in some sense, that is true. However, in Liberia, where we work, this is the second pandemic in six years. Our experiences in Liberia provide important lessons for COVID-19 education system recovery in low-income countries – and the uniquely important role of “last mile teachers.” In 2014, the Ebola crisis closed schools across Liberia for six months to a year. One and a half million children were excluded from school, in addition to 500,000 children who were already excluded before Ebola roared through the country. As Liberia’s Minister...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Aid Featured Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news