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2023 Springer Nature Early Childhood Education Journal Learning Loss
Induced by Pandemic
Article · December 2023
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Early Childhood Education Journal
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01602-8
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Challenges and Efforts to Recover Pandemic‑Induced Learning Losses:
A Qualitative Analysis of Indian Primary School Teachers’ Perspectives
Jyotsna Pattnaik1
· Nibedita Nath2
Accepted: 14 October 2023
This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2023
Abstract
According to researchers, the pandemic-induced school closures and disruption of services resulted in a massive regression
of academic learning and socio-behavioral development, especially among children in developing economies. Countries have
been making efforts to recover the learning and developmental losses incurred by children during the pandemic. A review
of the literature shows that there are only a handful of studies that examine learning loss as well as post-pandemic efforts at
the school level in India. According to a UNESCO report, India also experienced the second-longest COVID-19-induced
school closure in the world. This qualitative study was conducted with primary-grade teachers after in-person instruction
commenced in a county in eastern India with a large indigenous population. The purpose of the study was to gather teachers'
challenges in implementing in-person instruction during the 2022–2023 school year and the efforts they made to recover the
learning loss. The findings showed that children started the school year with limited or no knowledge of foundational math
and language arts, displayed a lack of interest in learning, and engaged in disruptive classroom behaviors. However, teachers noticed slow but steady progress over time. The findings urge policymakers to support timely learning interventions and
provide material and human resources to schools to recover the learning loss.
Keywords Learning Losses · Effort to recover learning losses · India · Qualitative Study
COVID-19 contributed to learning deficits in all areas of
children's development: cognitive, academic, physical and
mental health, and social skills. The severity of the impact
was greater for children in marginalized communities around
the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Experts maintain that the pandemic has widened the learning gap that existed before the pandemic between children
from different socio-economic backgrounds in all countries,
especially in developing countries. From their analysis of
36 selected studies that measured learning loss in different
countries, Patrinos et al. (2022) found that learning losses on
average amounted to 0.17 of a standard deviation, SD, or a
loss of approximately one-and-a-half years’ worth of learning. The consequence of the huge learning loss is seen in the
* Jyotsna Pattnaik
jyotsna.pattnaik@csulb.edu
* Nibedita Nath
drnibedita.nath@gmail.com
1
California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, USA
2
Kalahandi University, Bhawanipatna, Odisha, India
rise of, what the World Bank (2022) refers to as, “learning
poverty” (or the percentage of children who are unable to
read and comprehend a simple text by age 10) around the
world. For example, learning poverty in low and middleincome countries increased from 57% in 2019 to 70% in
2022 (World Bank, 2022), and for India, learning poverty
shot up from 54 to 70% after the pandemic (The Hindu,
2022). Researchers attribute various reasons to the learning
deficits among children in poor countries, such as the low
pre-pandemic learning levels and the failure of remote learning (Goldhaber et al., 2022), the lack of necessary connectivity and digital tools to access remote learning (Pattnaik et al.,
2023), uninterrupted and long school closures (Schady et al.,
2023), access to basic necessities, and disruption of services
(Josephson et al., 2021).
School closure and disruption of services resulted in a
massive collapse of human capital, and experts maintain that
it will take many years, especially for governments in low
and middle-income countries, to recover the human capital
loss (Schady et al., 2023). The loss of human capital has
grave consequences for the individual and society as a whole
because each year of schooling impacts a person's earning
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Early Childhood Education Journal
capacity and a country’s economic progress (Patrinos,
2022). Although the returns to in-person instruction varied
across countries as reported in different studies after the pandemic hit, the global average was 8% (Montenegro & Patrinos, 2021). Most developing countries closed their in-person
learning for two consecutive years. Researchers reported that
the longer the schools in a country closed during the pandemic, the larger the human capital loss, especially the loss
of future earnings in that country. According to the World
Bank (2021), “This generation of students now risks losing
$17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or about
14 percent of today's global GDP, as a result of COVID-19
pandemic-related school closures” (World Bank, 2021, p.
5). As a region, South Asia, along with Latin America and
the Caribbean, witnessed the longest school closures, with
approximately 273 full days of school (World Bank, 2022).
UNICEF (2021) maintains that the extent of learning loss is
roughly proportional to the duration of school closures. A
few research studies have already reported learning loss and
developmental delays among children in South Asia induced
by the pandemic, such as the study by Schady et al. (2023)
with toddlers in Bangladesh. Therefore, experts and world
organizations call for designing strategies to mitigate learning loss (UNICEF, 2023).
The purpose of the study was to gather the perspectives
of private and government school teachers in Kalahandi district (county) in India regarding pandemic-induced learning
loss in children in their third-grade classroom, the efforts by
their school and their efforts to bring children to the grade
level expectations, and the challenges that they faced to support children’s academic learning and socio-emotional wellbeing. There was a need for this study for various reasons.
First, a review of the literature shows that there are only a
handful of studies, such as the study by the Azim Premji
Foundation Research Group (2021) that examined learning
losses as well as post-pandemic efforts at the school level in
India. Second, India has the world's second-largest schoolgoing population, with around 250 million students who
are enrolled in 1.5 million schools (Pasricha, 2022). Third,
according to a UNESCO report, India also experienced the
second-longest COVID-19-induced school closure in the
world, after Uganda, during the pandemic (Pasricha, 2022).
Keeping the above justifications in mind, this qualitative
study was conducted with third-grade teachers in government and low to moderately-fee-charging private schools
in Kalahandi district (county) of Odisha, India. The study
aimed to explore the following research questions: (1) How
did primary-grade teachers perceive their teaching experiences during the pandemic? (2) What challenges did primary
grade teachers face in implementing in-person instruction
for the 2022–2023 school year? (3) What efforts did schools
and primary-grade teachers make to recover children's learning loss and bring children to their grade-level competency?
13
Background
Learning Losses During the Pandemic
The school closure and consequent non-participation of
children in meaningful learning activities impacted children's learning in many ways: (a) loss of mastery over
earlier-learned competencies; (b) lack of opportunity to
learn new concepts and competencies of the next grade
level; (c) unpreparedness to learn higher level concepts
due to loss of mastery of competencies achieved earlier.
Researchers around the world, especially from developed
countries, have reported children's learning loss in general
and have compared learning loss in particular academic
subjects such as math and language arts (reading and writing). The results of these studies showed that learning loss
impacted children from low-income families (Toness &
Lurye, 2022), children who consistently achieved low
even before the pandemic (Clark et al., 2021), and younger
learners in primary grades (Tomasik et al., 2020).
Researchers agree that disaster-related school closures
have disproportionately affected children from poor communities across the globe and widened achievement disparities between high- and low-poverty schools (Schult
et al., 2022). According to the World Bank (2022), the
rate of learning poverty in low- and middle-income countries, especially South Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, is very high. These are the regions that suffered the
longest school closures. These are also regions where the
pre-pandemic learning poverty rate was already very high,
about 57%. With an 86% learning poverty rate, Sub-Saharan Africa topped the list of regions with high learning
poverty rates. Children from poor families in developed
economies also suffered from the pandemic-induced loss
of learning (Schult et al., 2022).
Higher Learning Losses: Math or Language?
There is research evidence to suggest that children’s academic achievement has been impacted by the school closure during the pandemic (Betthäuser et al., 2023). However, learning loss estimates by educational experts were
higher for math than for reading (Kuhfeld et al., 2020), and
empirical studies later confirmed these projections. For
example, from their meta-analysis of 42 studies across 15
countries (mostly from North America, South America,
and Europe, and 1 from Africa), Betthäuser et al. (2023)
reported that the learning deficit was higher for math than
language. Similar results were reported in studies conducted in developing countries as well. For example, the
study by Azim Premji Foundation Research Group (2021)
Early Childhood Education Journal
with 1137 schools and 16,067 children in 2nd through 6th
grade in 5 states in India after one year of school closure
reported a learning loss of about 10 percentage points
higher for mathematics than language arts. As per the
report by the World Bank (2022), between 2017 and 2021,
average language scores for 5th graders in India declined
from 319 to 309 (a 10-point loss) and average math scores
from 310 to 284 (a 26-point loss) in the national assessment test (The World Bank, 2022). In Mexico, the estimated learning losses were also greater in math than in
reading (The World Bank, 2022). It is interesting to note
that there are also a handful of studies around the world
that report higher learning losses in reading than in math.
For example, Lerkkanen et al. (2023) compared the reading and math skills of a COVID sample and a pre-COVID
sample of Finnish children in grades 1 through 4. The
results showed a lower loss in math in comparison to reading comprehension and fluency in the COVID sample in
grades 2 through 4. According to the authors, children
spent less time on reading activities and did not receive
explicit instruction and feedback from teachers during the
school closure period. For math, the authors suggested
that teachers in their study might have placed a stronger
emphasis on mathematical tasks that students were able
to practice independently at home and that primary grade
math is generally easier to teach remotely by teachers and
easily by parents at home. Similarly, the 2022 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER Center, 2023) in India
showed a higher loss (about 7%) in reading than math
(about 2%) between its 2018 and 2022 assessment results.
ASER considered this drop in reading as huge “given how
slowly the all-India numbers move” (para. 5).
Lasting Impact of the Pandemic on Children’s
Socio‑emotional Development
Researchers documented the negative impacts of the pandemic on children's socio-emotional development. Children
experienced social isolation and loneliness, depression, and
anxiety, and exhibited obsessive–compulsive disorder symptoms, somatic symptoms, and intensified behavior problems
(Zuccolo et al., 2023). These issues, in fact, continued even
after children attended in-person classes (National Center for
Education Statistics, NCES, 2022). According to the findings of the study of US public schools by National Center for
Educational Statistics, NCES (2022), children's socio-emotional development (87%), and their behavioral development
(84%), have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. The
Education Advisory Board, EAB, has collected data both
in 2022 and 2023 on the academic and behavioral impacts
of the pandemic on children after schools opened in person
in the US. The Education Advisory Board's 2022 survey
(Education Advisory Board, 2022) included a total of 1109
educators in 60 districts from across 42 states, including DC.
Educators (84%) perceived their current students' self-regulation and relationship-building abilities to be lower than
their pre-pandemic peers.
Efforts Around the World to Bridge
the Pandemic‑Induced Learning Loss
In the post-school closure period, countries around the world
have made efforts to recover learning and developmental
losses incurred by children during the pandemic. At the
global level, collaborative efforts have been made by organizations to help countries recover from pandemic-induced
learning losses. For example, in 2022, the RAPID framework for learning recovery and acceleration was introduced
by UNICEF, UNESCO, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth,
and Development Office, and the World Bank (UNICEF,
2023), and a guidebook was also prepared to provide countries with ideas on strategies and policy actions. The RAPID
framework refers to: “Reach every child and keep them in
school; assess learning levels regularly; prioritize teaching
the fundamentals; increase the efficiency of instruction,
including through catch-up learning; and develop psychosocial health and well-being” (UNICEF, 2023, p. 2). UNICEF
and its member countries have published reports on how
countries have implemented the RAPID framework. Some
of the ideas implemented by countries include: organizing
community mobilization campaigns to help increase attendance and re-enrollment rates; identifying children who are
either out of school or are at risk of dropout; addressing
barriers to education, both household and school level barriers, such as the cash transfer program, to support the cost
of education, transportation, and other educational needs for
needy families, to name but a few.
Currently, a handful of published reports focus on efforts
taken by South Asian governments, including India, to identify the impacts of COVID-19 on children and post-school
closure efforts to recover learning. The state of Gujarat,
India, for example, realigned the entire curriculum for the
first quarter of the academic year to focus on foundational
learning (The World Bank, 2022). The study by the Premji
Foundation Research Group between January and April
2022 included 108 teachers, 108 schools, and 1644 students
in grades 2 through 5 across 41 districts (counties) in 5 states
in India to explore the efforts taken by teachers in the postschool closure period and the improvement in math and
language after 8–10 weeks of the study period, if any. Their
report showed the following: allowing spaces for students’
experiences and narratives, using games and activities,
maintaining personalized attention to newly enrolled students; dividing students into logical learning groups; using
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Early Childhood Education Journal
differentiated instruction in the use of materials, activities,
and pedagogical techniques; making learning opportunities
that can be carried out after school though community-based
group projects and worksheets; allowing students to use
local dialects and using home language in class discussions;
using a variety of teaching–learning resources to strengthen
children’s foundational skills in math and language; and
using comprehensive assessment strategies.
Results of the Recovery Efforts
The World Bank (2023) surveyed 60 low- and middleincome countries to explore what policies were adopted
by these countries to recover and accelerate learning after
they opened their schools for in-person learning. Seven
countries served as case studies for further exploration and
analysis. The report concluded, “…relatively few countries
had implemented fully evidence-based policy measures to
address learning recovery and acceleration. For example,
from the report database, only 27 percent of countries had
implemented targeted instruction programs, and only 15
percent supported teacher performance through structured
pedagogy programs” (The World Bank, 2023, p. 12). However, some countries in the survey also implemented costeffective policy measures to improve student learning.
During the pandemic school closures, some countries,
such as India, focused on children's return to school. In 2021,
India's Ministry of Education (MOE) requested that states
identify children between the ages of 6 and 18 who are out
of school and prepare action plans for their return to school.
States employed home visits and door-to-door surveys to
identify children who are out of school and factors that prevented children from attending school (Edex Live, 2022).
Some states reported high success in reenrolling children in
school. The state of Karnataka reported admitting 14,871
children (9715 dropouts and 5156 never enrolled) out of
18,584 children who were tracked (Edex Live, 2022). It
is important to note that some issues, such as children not
attending school, already existed and the pandemic intensified the issue.
Methods
The study used qualitative methodology, particularly phenomenology, to collect and analyze data. The researchers
perceived phenomenology as appropriate for the purpose
of the study. According to qualitative researchers, the reality of a phenomenon can be truly understood by those who
are involved in the process. The study intended to explore
the loss of learning and the efforts undertaken by the
school after schools reopened for in-person instruction in
India. Therefore, it was appropriate to capture the voices
13
of teachers who witnessed the learning disruptions caused
by the pandemic in their locality and were responsible for
bridging the learning gap after schools reopened.
Setting
The study took place in the City of Kalahandi, an eastern
district (county) in the state of Odisha. As per the last census of India, the state is home to 62 different indigenous
communities who speak around 74 dialects, and it is third
among Indian states with a significant number of indigenous populations (Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes
Research and Training Institute, 2018), 28.5% as per the
last census (Government of Odisha, 2020). Odisha has the
highest number of educationally backward districts (18 out
of 30), as categorized by a committee of the University
Grants Commission (UGC), India, in 2021. The committee
identifies such districts throughout India based on various
educational parameters such as gross enrollment ratio, college population ratio, and average enrollment per college
(The New Indian Express, 2021). Kalahandi is one of the 18
educationally backward districts in Odisha. Only 59.20% of
people are literate as compared to 72.90% in the state.
Participants and the Recruitment Procedure
The study received permission from the Institutional Ethics
Committee of a local public university in Kalahandi. The
researchers contacted the administrators of local schools,
both private and government, and discussed with them
the purpose and procedure of the study. The administrators announced the study to third-grade teachers in their
schools and provided the contact information of the second researcher. Interested teachers contacted the second
researcher. Teachers were provided with the purpose and
procedure of the study, their rights and responsibilities as
participants in the study, and the procedure to maintain confidentiality. They were also made aware of the voluntary
nature of their participation. All teachers who provided consent were included in the study.
Participants' demographic information is provided in
Table 1. Government school participants in the study were
given an identification number between 1 and 8 (such as
GST#1), and private school teachers were provided an
identification number between 9 and 15 (PST#10). A total
of 15 teachers (3 males and 12 females) provided consent
to participate in the study. Eight of these teachers were
from private schools (PST), and seven of them were from
government schools (GST). Except for one private school,
which had two teachers in the study, all other schools were
represented by only one teacher because these schools had
only one third-grade classroom. The private schools in
the study catered to low- and middle-income children.
Early Childhood Education Journal
Table 1 Participant
demographic information
Participant ID
Gender
Age
School type
Educational background
Teaching
Grade levels taught
experience
GST#1
GST#2
GST#3
GST#4
GST#5
GST#6
GST#7
PST#8
PST#9
PST#10
PST#11
PST#12
PST#13
PST#14
PST#15
F
M
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
F
F
M
F
59
52
43
40
48
47
45
39
37
39
28
34
28
27
25
Govt. #1
Govt. #2
Govt. #3
Govt. #4
Govt. #5
Govt. #6
Govt. #7
Private #1
Private #2
Private #3
Private #4
Private #5
Private #6
Private #7
Private #8
12th grade
12th grade, CT
BA, CT
12th grade, CT
BA, CT
12th grade, CT
12th grade, CT
BA, B.Ed
BA, B.Ed
BA, B.Ed
BA, B.Ed
BA, B.Ed
BA, B.Ed
BA, B.Ed
M.COM, B.Ed
30
15
12
19
23
17
11
10
8
12
3
5
3
4
2
The government schools in the study catered to lowincome children only. Participants' ages ranged from 25
to 59 years, and their teaching experience ranged from 2
to 30 years. Compared to GSTs, PSTs were younger and
had fewer years of teaching experience because private
schools were introduced to the district (county) much later
than government schools. All private school participants
had at least a bachelor’s degree and a bachelor's in education (B.Ed.) degree. The educational qualifications of
government school teachers (GST) varied. Out of seven
government school teachers, only one had a bachelor's
degree in addition to the 2-year Certificate of Teaching
(CT) training that is required for primary school teaching
in the state; five teachers completed high school and the
CT training; and one teacher did not complete CT training
because when she started teaching 30 years ago, the district (county) did not offer any teacher training for primary
school teachers. None of the participants received training
in educational technology before the onset of COVID-19
and received very little technology training during the
pandemic. Nine participants have taught only at the thirdgrade level; however, six participants have taught other
elementary grades.
Participants taught children who were enrolled in third
grade for the 2022–2023 school year. Third graders in India
are 8-year-olds. Children enter first grade when they are
6 years old. Generally, kindergarten programs are not part
of government elementary schools. Children go to either
government-funded or private preschool programs (between
ages 3 and 5) before they enter a first-grade classroom in a
government school. However, most private schools include
the 2-year kindergarten program, which is referred to as
KG-1 and KG-2.
3 and 5
3 and 2
3 and 5
3 and 4
3
3
3 and 4
3
3
3
3 and 5
3
3
3
3
Data Collection
Data was collected after schools in the study had about
3 months of in-person instruction for the 2022–2023 school
year. Data was collected through a focus group interview and
individual interviews with participants. The same questions
were asked in both interviews (Appendix 1). Both interviews
were attended by all the participants in the study. The purpose of the individual interview was to capture the voices of
all participants, to gather context-specific anecdotes, and to
provide participants an individual space to share information candidly.
Interview questions were designed based on the purpose of the study and the research questions for the study.
A thorough review of the literature from various sources,
including academic and newspaper articles and governmental and non-governmental documents, was conducted
to design the research questions. The focus group interview
was conducted in person, and it spanned around an hour and
a half. Individual interviews were conducted over the phone
and were audio-recorded. The interviews were conducted in
Odiya, the official language of the state. Both researchers are
natives of Odisha and speak Odiya fluently.
Data Analysis
With a phenomenological study design, Braun and Clarke's
(2006) thematic analytical process with six sequential steps
felt appropriate for analyzing the data. The project team,
consisting of two researchers and two research assistants
(RA), was involved in the study process. RA #1 from Kalahandi already had a Master's degree, and RA #2 from the US
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Early Childhood Education Journal
was enrolled in a graduate program in the US. RA#1, who
was fluent in Odiya, transcribed the interviews into English.
The data analysis steps included: (1) Familiarization with
the data: Both researchers read the transcripts thoroughly
and discussed some of the patterns that they had noticed. (2)
Generating codes: The study employed both deductive and
inductive coding procedures to analyze the data (Saldana,
2013). For inductive coding or theory-driven coding, both
researchers agreed upon some preliminary codes based
on the research questions and the review of the literature.
The primary researcher and RA#2 created a codebook. The
codebook included three columns: code name, definition,
and evidence. RA#2 completed the codebook. The primary
researcher and RA#2 reread the transcripts individually and
identified excerpts as evidence for each code. They discussed
the codes, and RA#2 entered the excerpts in the codebook.
The second researcher reread the transcripts and agreed
upon the codes. Then, the researchers moved to the deductive coding or data-driven coding procedure. In this phase,
the primary researcher taught RA#2 how to create in vivo
codes (generating codes based on participants' own words
and phrases) and descriptive codes based on the interpretation of a chunk of data. The deductive codes that emerged
from the data were added and defined in the code book.
Then relevant excerpts were added to their respective codes
in the codebook. RA#2 completed the coding process. Both
researchers verified the codes. Whenever necessary, modifications were made through discussions and mutual agreement. (3) Searching for themes: Both researchers identified
possible themes from the codes independently; (4) Reviewing themes: Both researchers then collaboratively discussed
the themes, considering established research questions for
the study and the interrelationships among the themes.
The researchers sorted out the differences and finalized
the themes. (5) Defining and naming themes: The themes
were named based on a broad meaning that emerged from
participants' responses on a particular topic. For example,
participants stated different categories of challenges that
they faced in their classrooms, such as academic challenges,
socio-behavioral challenges, and challenges involving parents. So, a broad theme that reflected these challenges was
created: (6) Producing the report: The report was written and
finalized by both researchers.
Findings
Teaching and Learning During the Pandemic
Both government school teachers, GSTs, and private school
teachers, PSTs, shared a host of reasons for children’s lower
participation in online class sessions, including a lack of
devices or access to internet services. Participating PSTs
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shared that they had offered remote instruction during the
pandemic. The teachers used Google Meet or Zoom to offer
online sessions. According to most PSTs, around 50% of
students attended online classes regularly. However, a handful of PSTs shared that around 80–90% of students in their
class were able to attend online sessions. GST#9 stated,
“Some students are from remote areas and were staying in
the school hostel (dorms). But during the lockdown, they
went back to their village, where the internet connection
was very poor. So, they could not attend the online classes.”
According to participants, some families bought new phones
for their children to access online platforms. However, participating PSTs said that they lost quite a few children to
government schools because of the inability of their families
to keep their jobs and pay for the tuition fees. PST#12 stated,
“But many students left our school and took admission in
government schools due to the financial crises during the
pandemic.” Most PSTs shared that they sent notes, lesson
write-ups, and homework via WhatsApp. They also checked
the homework submitted by students via WhatsApp. However, some teachers shared that they did not receive homework from all students. PST#12 shared that in their school,
“teachers created subject-wise groups to send homework and
notes via WhatsApp, and they checked the homework during online lessons.” One participant, PST#13, shared that
she couldn't correct homework during online classes. Most
teachers mentioned disciplinary issues during the online
class sessions.
Participating GSTs shared that they also offered online
classes. However, very few students with Android phones
could attend the classes. GST#2 shared, “Most of the students are from very poor families, so they didn't get Android
mobile phones to join online classes.” Government school
participants shared that they used a variety of methods, such
as drawing, writing, sharing YouTube videos, and the use
of the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy book provided
by the state government, to teach children during online lessons via phone and during their home visits. WhatsApp was
the tool that they frequently used for teaching and sending
materials. However, some teachers also mentioned that the
sessions were not attended by children but rather by their
family members. For example, GST#1 shared, “During the
online classes, mostly their parents or elder brothers and
sisters were attending the classes on behalf of the students.”
Most teachers shared that they faced discipline issues when
children attended online lessons.
In addition to offering online classes, GSTs also visited
children's homes to provide instruction. However, GST#2
stated, “We were also going door to door to teach students;
however, not all parents allowed their children to attend
these home visit sessions because of the fear of COVID.”
GST #6 shared the same concern. However, she also said
that she requested parents to allow her to talk to their child
Early Childhood Education Journal
because she had to provide books distributed by the state
government, the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy book,
and the books from the Ujjwal program (a remediation program for children in 1st–5th grades that was introduced in
2018), to students and give them some directions. However,
participants also shared that visiting each child's home regularly was a challenge for them. Some GSTs shared that they
also provided group instruction at a central place in the community, where students gathered to participate in the instruction. One teacher during the FG session stated, “We provided lessons in the temple mandap (yard), below trees, and
in some cases, in the front veranda of some families. Teachers had no holidays during Corona. We were going house
to house to supervise students, teach lessons, and distribute
worksheets.” It is important to note that private school teachers in the study were not required to visit children’s homes or
communities to provide instruction or homework.
The Reason for Children’s Low Foundational Skills
in Math and Language
All teachers shared that students entered their class with very
little or no foundational skills in math and language. Participants also attributed the disruption to in-person learning due
to the pandemic as the main reason for children’s low level
of math and language skills. Although most participants
offered online classes, they shared challenges that they faced
during online sessions that ranged from discipline issues to
a lack of attendance or irregular attendance. Teachers raised
the issue of homework non-submission during the school
closure period. It is important to note that homework is a big
part of the Indian education system. PST#8 shared, “They
were not doing the homework regularly because they had
no fear of the consequences. They knew very well that the
teacher was on the other side of the screen and had no control over them.” PST #12 shared a similar statement referring
to children's lack of fear of consequences for non-submission
of homework. Although corporal punishment is outlawed in
schools in India, other forms of punishment, such as verbal
reprimands, detention, loss of privilege, and point deduction,
are practiced by teachers. Teachers cited discipline issues
during remote learning sessions, which also negatively
impacted children's learning. GST#1 stated, “After getting
mobile phones in their hands, instead of focusing on the
class, they started playing games or chatting or messaging
with each other.”
Teachers also shared how the standards for teaching and
learning and high expectations were lowered during the pandemic due to children's inattention during class sessions,
non-submission of homework, and teachers’ lack of time to
check homework during online sessions. Some teachers also
shared that the homework was completed by parents rather
than children, which did not help children's understanding
of concepts taught in the class. For example, PST #12 stated,
“There are cases where most of the parents were attending
the online classes instead of the students. They were also
doing the homework on behalf of their kids and sending
them to teachers via WhatsApp.”
Most PSTs talked about children's non-adherence to
learning routines during the pandemic. They complained
that children were spending most of their time with technological entertainment and chatting with their friends via
phone rather than spending time on their schoolwork. They
also talked about the role of parents in children's learning. PST #13 shared, “During lockdown, children became
acquainted with using phones and playing games. They were
totally detached from the study. Very few students whose
parents looked after their education gained something. Otherwise, it was completely a huge loss for students whose
parents were not involved.”
According to GSTs, not only could children not participate in online classes, but their parents also lacked the education to help them learn. Moreover, their parents had to
work outside of the home in low-paying jobs. Their family
could not afford to hire private tutors, as the families of their
peers from middle-class homes could. Their main source
of learning was their school. When schools were closed,
they lost their way of learning, except for those children
whose parents had some education and supported their children’s learning at home. GST #2 stated, “Many children lost
touch with their studies during the pandemic. They have
completely forgotten everything. However, children whose
parents were concerned about their education are quite good
in their math and language skills.”
Some GSTs also compared the amount of time children
were spending in learning activities when they were attending school before the pandemic and how little time they
spent in learning activities during the pandemic, whether
through online classes or during teachers' visits to their
home or through the group learning lessons that were held
by teachers in their community. GST #7 stated, “When they
were coming to school, they were engaged in learning activities for six to seven hours a day. But during the Corona time,
they only spent a few hours on learning activities and also
not regularly. So, their learning was hampered a lot.” During
the focus group interview, teachers also acknowledged their
inefficacy in teaching writing skills during online instruction sessions. One teacher stated, “The students could not
learn the proper way of writing in online learning. We,
teachers, were also unable to show them the correct way to
write a letter during online classes.”
Challenges Faced
When asked what were the biggest challenges that they faced
since schools started in person in the 2022–2023 academic
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year, participants from both private and government schools
shared various kinds of challenges ranging from children’s
academic to behavioral issues.
Children’s Behavioral and Motivational Challenges
Invariably, all participants shared their challenges in keeping
children’s attention and motivation toward learning, more so
in the beginning months of school opening. They attributed
these challenges to the prolonged school closure and the lack
of structure in remote instruction. PST#3 shared, “Classroom teaching was not happening for a long time, so children did not know school-related habits and expectations.”
Participants also shared parental challenges with sending
their children to school. GST#1 shared, “Most of the parents
are complaining that their children have become quite lazy
during the pandemic. They have to force their children to go
to school, to do the homework, to get up in the morning.”
Children’s attention issues were raised by most participants. PST#13 shared, “The biggest challenge for me is how
to improve children’s attention and interest.” All teachers
discussed children's challenges in sitting through an entire
lesson, and children’s interest in going outside of the classroom frequently. PST#12 added, “Students are asking for
multiple toilet breaks within one class session.” Schools
in this particular district opened in-person instruction with
shorter school days and later moved to full-day sessions.
Referring to the half-day and full-day school sessions, one
government school participant in the FG session shared,
“When the school day was for a shorter time, children had
patience. But later, when the school started in a full-fledged
manner, they became very impatient. They started going
to the toilet frequently.” During the FG session, one participant said, “Every day the students are saying that they
have a headache, stomachache, fever, etc. so that they can go
to their home soon.” Some teachers compared third-grade
children's behavior before and after the school closure. PST
#12 stated,
The children are very indisciplined. There is a huge
difference in children's behavior before the pandemic
and after the pandemic. Third-grade students before
the pandemic already knew how to maintain discipline
in the school and follow rules and regulations. But students after the pandemic have the mindset of a nursery
or LKG (lower kindergarten) age student. They are not
standing in queues or sitting here and there. We also
faced problems while taking attendance because the
children didn't even know this.
Indian private schools follow a 2-year kindergarten program (lower and upper kindergarten) for 4- and 5-year-olds.
Teachers also pointed to children’s lack of training on how
to show respect to teachers and listen to their rules and
13
directions. PST# 12 stated, “At first when children came to
the school after the lockdown, they were very arrogant. They
were not listening to us, not giving respect to the teachers.”
Government school participants also shared children's
motivational challenges. “Initially, it was very difficult to
manage the class. They were getting distracted and not
able to sit.” One government school participant in the FG
shared, “Some students made the excuse of a headache,
etc.” Another government teacher in the FG session shared,
“There are few children who come to school not to study but
to play.” GST#7 shared, “Children after the pandemic are
not interested in learning. They are more interested in using
the mobile phone, watching television, playing, sleeping,
and chatting with their friends.” All government school participants shared their frustration with some children’s irregular attendance. GST#2 shared, “My biggest challenge is to
make children come to school regularly.” GST #7 shared,
In government schools, the attendance irregularity is
about 30%. Sometimes children are absent for a whole
week, especially during the festival time and pre- and
post-festival days. So, they remain absent before and
after the holiday or a function. Attendance becomes 40
to 50% only during any upcoming fairs and festivals.
Academic Challenges
Participants from both private and government schools
shared academic challenges such as the slow pace of learning, a lack of foundational skills, and above all, a lack of
interest in learning. PST#14 stated, “The biggest challenge
we are facing is to improve the writing speed and to bring
back the concentration level of the students.” GST#2 shared,
“They lack confidence.” Some participants referred to children’s lack of practice in reading and math during the school
closure. Participants also shared their frustrations with motivating children to write, especially at the beginning of the
in-person instruction. They attributed this issue to the lack
of practice during the school closure and their own inability
to support children’s writing during the remote instruction
sessions. GST#2 shared, “Children lack confidence” and
continued,
The biggest challenge was in reading and writing
because most children could not read a single line
when they first started school. Some students could
read the books but did not understand the meaning. So,
for me, this was the biggest challenge because if they
cannot read the books, then how will they answer the
questions? When we made them understand the math
questions, the students were solving them. But they
could not solve the math questions by reading them
on their own.
Early Childhood Education Journal
Here are some excerpts from the focus group interview
session: “Students were saying that they were feeling
pain in their hands while writing. It is in fact due to the
lack of writing practice during the lockdown.” “Students could not learn the proper way of writing, and
we teachers were also unable to show them the correct
way to write a letter during online classes.” ”During
the exams, they are facing a lot of problems in writing.
They don’t know how to write in the answer sheet.”
"They have lost the habit of reading and writing and
also interest in overall study and education."
Parental Involvement Challenges
Some teachers referred to challenges involving parent
involvement. GST #1 stated, “Children come to school for
some hours, but most of their time they spend at home with
their parents. So, it is also the duty of their parents to find
out how their children are doing at school, whether they are
doing their homework or not, and what they are learning
from school. Parents should arrange private tutoring that will
benefit their children.” PST #15 justified private tutoring for
children because of time constraints for teachers to bridge
the last 2 years' learning loss within a short span and to bring
children at par with third-grade level academic expectations.
Private tutoring for children at every age and grade level
is very common in India. During the post-school closure
period, participants saw the need for it even more. Some
teachers mentioned the parental desperation to help their
children at the cost of doing the homework for their children
rather than helping them understand the concepts. GST#6
stated, “Some parents have complained that whatever task
we give to their children, they are doing it properly at home.
But when we ask children about the concepts in class, they
cannot answer them. So, we do not know who is doing it on
their behalf.” GST#6 shared her concern with parents’ lack
of understanding of the fun-oriented teaching strategies that
teachers are using to raise children’s motivation in learning and shared, “When the parents come to school and see
children playing games, they complain that the teachers are
not teaching, and they are only playing games. They do not
understand that we are giving children study-related games
so that they can easily understand the concepts.”
When asked whether they were receiving any support
from parents, government school teachers shared that most
of the parents could not help their children complete homework because they lacked the education and time to support their children’s learning. One teacher shared that at the
beginning of the in-person schooling, sometimes children
would forget to take their backpacks home from school
because they had never been to school before, and parents
did not communicate with the school about it. GST#5 stated,
“…. It means that they did not even open their books at
home and did not do any homework.” One private school
participant in the FG session shared, “Parents have only one
complaint, that the child remained addicted to mobile phones
even after the Corona pandemic. They have not been able
to come out of this mobile phone addiction.” Government
school teachers in the FG session referred to the sufficiency
of the workbooks provided by the state government. One
participant shared, “If the child will do only workbooks, it
is sufficient for the child.” Another participant shared, “The
government has given reading books and separate workbooks during and after Corona. These materials are clear and
well-articulated. Without parents' guidance, children can do
and learn from these workbooks at home.” However, government school participants also shared that some parents were
not paying any attention to their children's completion of
homework from these books. One participant shared, “Even
if the parents are not able to teach their children, they could
still sit in front of their children. At least the child will do
the homework.” Here are two excerpts from the FG session:
“Children of parents who are not able to give time to their
children are lagging.” “If our effort is 80 percent, the parental effort should be at least 20 percent.”
Efforts Taken by Teachers
Fostering Interest in Learning
Teachers made various kinds of efforts to help children
adjust to the school setting and improve their academic
and socio-emotional skills. Teachers from both private and
government schools shared that their first goal was to make
children interested in attending school regularly and also to
learn enthusiastically. One teacher in the FG session stated,
“If they do not have interest in the subject, they will go to
the toilet more often.” So, participants in the study have been
patiently working with children to create interest in learning.
PST#13 shared, “The biggest challenge for me is to bring
back children’s attention and interest.”
Supporting Children’s Academic Competencies
All government school teachers shared that they have been
trying their best to make up for the existing learning gap and
bring children to the current grade level by the end of the
school year. Both types of schools administered a diagnostic
test at the beginning of the school year to diagnose children's
math and language arts levels. Teachers shared that they have
been devoting more time, especially to children who entered
at a very low level of proficiency in math and reading or who
are progressing slowly. GST#7 shared, “We are giving more
importance to them in class, asking them to work hard and
practice at home. We are encouraging them to ask us any
doubts or concerns that they have without hesitation.” GST
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Early Childhood Education Journal
#3 stated, “To make up the learning loss, we are constantly
repeating the ‘Barnabodha book’ and the ‘FLN book’ for
reading and writing.” These books are similar to pre-primer
or foundational reading books used with kindergarten and
first-grade children in the U.S. Teachers also shared that they
were giving children monthly tests and homework to practice what they learned in class. Teachers have been utilizing
strategies that are engaging and fun for children. GST#3
shared, “We help them understand through drawing, showing pictures, and citing familiar examples, which are more
effective and easier to remember.” Teachers also discussed
their adoption of skill-level grouping and rationalized that it
has helped them customize their teaching on the basis of the
group's current knowledge base and progress. GST#6 stated,
“We have divided children into different groups and sections
so that we can focus on each and every child and also give
extra support to the weaker ones.”
Participating PSTs shared various efforts to support children's learning. Some participants shared that they have been
consistently incorporating visual media into their teaching
and using crafts and projects to increase children's interest in learning. PST#9 and PST#12 stated that they have
been giving more project work and craft-making activities
to raise children's interest. PST#12 stated, “We are using
projectors for showing videos and images to students so
that they can understand it easily and also have better clarity about the subject or topic.” It is important to note that
the use of projectors or other forms of educational technology is not very common in schools in India, especially in
schools in remote school districts. Some participants also
mentioned the use of various teaching strategies. One FG
session participant shared, “Sometimes we make drawings
on the blackboard to make them understand or cite some
daily life examples.” Teachers also shared that because of the
children's slow pace of progress, they divided the lesson into
smaller chunks, helped children practice the concepts, and
then assessed children's understanding. PST#9 stated, “We
divide the lessons into smaller parts so that it will be easier
for students to catch up soon.” Participating PSTs shared that
their school has been providing remedial classes for selected
students every Saturday for one hour. They also shared that
they have been conducting periodic evaluations of children's
learning, which was not mentioned by GSTs in the study.
PST #10 stated, “We are also following the steps taken by
the Odisha Government, especially the Learning Recovery
Programme, to evaluate students’ learning.” Teachers also
discussed their focus on children's homework completion,
which they could not require consistently during the remote
instruction period. PST#12 shared, “We are giving homework regularly to students.”
Private school participants also discussed children’s
second language acquisition challenges. Most Indian private schools adopt English as the medium of instruction.
13
However, as per India’s three-language policy, children in
private schools must learn two other languages as language
subjects including the state language (which is Odiya in the
State of Odisha) as their second language. The state language must be taught from primary grades. In government
primary schools in Odisha, Odiya is the medium of instruction and English, the second language, is introduced in the
third grade. Therefore, children in private schools undergo
the burden of learning two languages starting from the first
grade. During the COVID school closure, the burden was
more especially for children from low-income communities
who attended private schools. All private schools in India
must reserve 25% of their enrollment space for children
from poor communities. The tuition fees of some private
schools are also very reasonable for low-income families.
Most of these families can speak Odiya at home, however,
cannot teach reading and writing in Odiya because family
members are not literate. Research shows that generally in
English medium schools in India, students are very poor
in their second language which is their state’s official language, especially in reading and writing. PST#11 stated,
“As our school is an English medium school, children are
learning all the subjects in English. So, they are not having
that much problem in English. But in the Odiya language,
they are very weak. They have forgotten the letters, matras
(the vowel sounds denoted by symbols). They can’t read in
Odiya.” Some PSTs shared the opposite problem: children's
inability to speak English. They attributed this issue to the
lack of practice in speaking English due to the pandemicinduced school closure. All PSTs also shared that they kept
constant contact with parents and requested them to help
children with subjects that they were struggling with.
Some teachers shared their observations of parental interest in supporting their children’s academic progress, either
on their own or with the help of private tutors. PST#15
shared, “Some parents are serious about the study of their
children. They are guiding them at home. So, their children
meet the school’s expectations. But not all parents are personally guiding students. Some cannot even help because
they studied in Odiya-medium schools. Some parents have
given their children private tuition.” It is appropriate to note
that English is the medium of instruction in participating
private schools in the study and Odiya is the dominant local
language which most children are familiar with or speak.
Progress in Children’s Learning
Participants in the study shared that they have noticed
progress, both academic and socioemotional, among children within a few months of in-person instruction. All
teachers shared improvements in children’s motivation
toward school and learning. One FG participant shared,
“They were going to the toilet five times more before
Early Childhood Education Journal
giving reasons of stomach ache and headache.” Teachers
also shared improvements in children’s attention. PST#15
stated, “Initially, few were unmindful in the class. They
were not listening properly. So, when we were asking them
questions, they were not able to answer. But gradually, in
fact, very quickly, the students became quite attentive.”
Some participants referred to children’s rising sense
of curiosity, and a sense of healthy competition among
students to do well in their studies and be liked by their
teachers. These aspects, they said, were missing during the
remote instruction time. During the focus group interview,
one teacher stated, “There is a curiosity among students to
know new things, so they are frequently asking questions.”
Another FG session participant shared,
There is competition among students to get higher
scores or get a positive comment from the teacher
on their notebook. Whenever I write something positive, such as, ‘A good job,’ in a student’s notebook,
another student immediately comes and asks, ‘Why
didn’t you write that in my notebook?’ Then, I show
the student the mistakes in the work submitted, and
they are willing to correct their mistakes. Then, I
write, ‘A good job’ or something positive, and they
are happy.
Participants connected children’s progress to their growing maturity level: “Now they are mature, so, they catch
quickly” (FG participant). Others connected children’s
progress to the learning foundations acquired during inperson instruction. One FG participant stated, “We had to
start teaching letters and numbers. Now they have those
foundational skills and can read and write.” GST#5 shared,
“Most of the students can do addition, subtraction, and
multiplication of two-digit numbers. A few students are
also able to solve three-digit numbers.”
However, teachers also shared that the pace of progress
is uneven and cited various reasons for this unevenness.
GST#5 stated, “There are individual differences. Even
today, some students cannot do addition and subtraction.
Most of the differences depend on each student’s ability.
Some students can catch things easily, and some others
are catching them slowly.” Government school teachers
connected children’s school attendance to their academic
and behavioral progress (or lack of it). They shared that
some students’ progress was negatively impacted by their
irregular attendance. However, they also shared that most
children have started attending school regularly. Teachers in private schools shared that they did not have any
problems with children’s attendance as parents were paying tuition fees. Some participants connected children's
progress to the family’s involvement at home. One FG session participant stated, “Some children’s motivation and
concentration level have reached 100 percent, but not for
all. It depends on the family.”
All teachers shared that they have been working hard
to support children's learning and socio-emotional skills.
GST#7 stated, “We are trying our best. For children who
entered school at a very low level of learning, we are giving more attention to them in class, encouraging them to do
hard work and practice at home, and asking them to clear
doubts with us.” Although all teachers shared that they have
been making sincere efforts to raise children’s learning to
the current grade level expectations, one participant in the
FG session stated, “It will take a whole year or maybe two
years for complete recovery. Many students started school
with no or very little knowledge of reading and writing. So,
it will take time to completely make up the learning loss.”
Discussion
Academic Learning Loss and Recovery
Participants in the study shared children’s loss of learning,
which is consistent with the findings of research studies discussed before. The extent of learning loss correlates with the
length of school closure (UNICEF, 2021). India also experienced the second longest COVID-19-induced school closure
in the world, after Zambia. According to the World Bank’s
survey (2023), formal learning assessments of foundational
learning, conducted by Mendoza, Argentina, and India,
showed significant learning loss among children during the
pandemic compared to pre-pandemic cohorts. According to
the survey by the Smile Foundation (2022) in India with
parents and teachers, less than 50% of children could catch
up with their age-appropriate learning that was lost over the
last 2 years.
Some participants in this study mentioned higher learning
losses in math compared to reading. Most studies on learning loss around the world, including in India, report higher
losses in math than in language arts. From their comparative
study with 25,126 children ages 5–7 across 220 villages in
the state of Tamil Nadu, a southern state, in 2019 and then in
December 2021 (after 18 months of school closure), Singh
et al. (2023) reported higher learning loss in math (0.7 SD)
than in language (0.34 SD). Experts have attributed various reasons for higher math learning loss, such as parental
sense of inefficacy in teaching math to their children, unintentional transmission of parental math anxiety to their children (STEMscopes, 2021), the hierarchical nature of math
content (Fuchs et al., 2023), and the complex nature of math,
hence the need for formal education in math (Betthäuser
et al., 2023).
According to some studies, although children’s learning loss is less in language arts compared to math, they are
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Early Childhood Education Journal
still behind the cohorts of pre-pandemic peers in the same
grade in reading and writing. For example, in the study by
Dorn et al. (2021), by the end of the 2020–2021 school year,
children were about 5 months behind in math and 4 months
behind in reading. Participants in the study shared children’s
lack of foundational skills in reading and writing when they
started in-person classes after the pandemic. Although they
observed improvement over the months, the pace was not
fast enough to catch up to the third-grade standards in reading and writing. Participants in the study have pointed out
their own difficulty in providing effective instruction to children during the remote learning sessions. Likewise, two systematic reviews examining students' learning more broadly
found that remote instruction hurt students’ learning (König
& Frey, 2022).
Schools where participants taught had administered diagnostic tests at the beginning of the school year. It helped
teachers identify the learning levels of their students and
provide individualized instruction based on their students’ needs. Participants shared that they have been using
skill-level learning groups to customize learning. This finding is consistent with the findings of Premji Foundation
researchers (2022). They reported that about 72% of Indian
teachers in their study were found to use logical learning
groups and a differentiated approach for materials, activities, and pedagogic techniques. Participating PSTs in the
study shared that the periodic evaluation of children's learning has been an integral part of their teaching. According to
UNICEF (2023), administering national and classroom-level
learning assessments to identify learning loss, as implemented in Sudan and India, has been effective in addressing individual children's needs. It is appropriate to note that
GSTs in this study did not share any ongoing classroomlevel assessment efforts.
Private schools where participants in the study taught
have been providing remedial classes for selected students
on Saturdays. Remedial teaching has been found to be
effective for children who have been struggling in school
subjects. Greece adopted a remedial teaching policy at the
national level, and according to Papadogiannis et al. (2023),
70% of the very weak students in the program could move
to a higher academic performance group within a short
period, and about one-third of these students remained in
this enhanced academic performance level even after they
exited the remedial teaching program. According to the
researchers, the policy has been effective in supporting students’ academic achievement.
Consistent with the findings of the study, researchers have
reported progress in children's learning after the implementation of in-person instruction by schools, such as in the
study by Skar et al. (2023) with first-grade children in Norway who showed no learning loss in the measures of writing,
text quality, handwriting, or attitude toward writing after a
13
year of in-person instruction. It is important to note that Norway had a very short school closure. Countries with longer
school closures show a slower pace of learning among children after the commencement of in-person instruction. For
example, researchers of the Northwest Evaluation Association, NEWA, recently reported a slower rate of learning
among American children in the 2022–2023 school year
compared to a typical pre-pandemic school year (Barnum,
2023). Both PSTs and GSTs in this study shared that they
have seen some progress in children's academic performance
and attitude toward learning; however, they also shared that
it would take more time to bring children to the third-grade
academic level. It is appropriate to state that recovering the
learning loss will take time in poor communities in developing countries due to huge learning losses caused by prolonged school closures accompanied by limited physical,
material, and manpower resources and family low-literacy
levels.
Children’s Socio‑behavioral Challenges and Progress
Participants in the study shared their challenges with student
behavior. According to research findings, children’s mental
health declined during the pandemic and children exhibited
both internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Ng & Ng,
2022). Many factors contributed to children’s poor mental
health and behavioral issues during the pandemic, including
social isolation due to school closure (Brannen et al., 2023),
parental stress (Köhler-Dauner et al., 2021), and extended
screen time (McArthur et al., 2021).
Research evidence shows the lingering impacts of the
pandemic on children's socio-behavioral issues after schools
opened for in-person instruction. The study by the EdWeek
Research Center (Blad, 2022) reported that when teachers
were asked to compare the social skills and emotional maturity levels of their current students with those of students
before the pandemic in 2019, most participants responded
negatively. For example, 39% of participants stated, “much
less advanced” and 41% stated, “somewhat less advanced.”
Children’s low self-regulation ability and disrespectful interactions with adults and peers were also voiced by teachers
in the study by the Education Advisory Board, EAB (2022).
The superintendents (57%) in EAB's 2023 survey stated
that children's mental health was “significantly worse” in
their schools after their schools reopened compared to the
2018–2019 school year (Education Advisory Board, EAB,
2023).
Teachers in the study shared different strategies they
have adopted to help children connect to the school, to their
peers and teachers, and to enjoy learning. They have seen
some progress in children’s socio-behavioral development.
This finding is consistent with expert recommendations and
findings of other studies. In its Framework for Reopening
Early Childhood Education Journal
Schools, UNICEF (2020) recommended that schools focus
on children’s academic learning as well as the social–emotional needs of children, especially in schools with a large
body of at-risk students. The study by Coelho et al. (2023)
reported that infusing a Portuguese socio-emotional learning program, SEL, in the curriculum enhanced third and
fourth-graders' assertiveness, sociability, communication
ability, self-regulation skills, and positive classroom peer
relationships.
Implementing Remedial Teaching Programs
Recommendations
Continuing Home‑Visit Programs
Making Curricular Adjustments and Integrating
Formative Assessment Measures
Government schools in the study and many other states in
India implemented home-visit programs by teachers during
the pandemic. However, they did not continue the home visit
programs after they started in-person instruction. Participating GSTs in the study shared their concerns over children’s
irregular attendance and lack of support from parents. Therefore, it is important that school districts in India continue
home-visit programs for children who have either dropped
out, never attended school, or have been attending school
irregularly after the reopening of schools. Home visits help
school personnel identify families' challenges, connect them
to proper authorities and organizations, and share with families the benefits that children receive from attending school.
About 75% of children who had been continuously absent
since the beginning of the 2022 school year in Guyana were
reinstated within weeks through home visits (The World
Bank, 2023).
Teachers in the study made some curricular adjustments
to accommodate children’s learning needs and to connect
children to school. However, they were also worried about
the pace of progress and bringing children up to grade-level
expectations. According to the World Bank (2023), students
need sufficient time for instruction, practice, and reinforcement to recover the learning loss and stay on track. Teachers
must include periodic evaluations as a part of their curriculum to identify the learning needs and progress of students
and adjust their curriculum accordingly. Therefore, Indian
schools need to readjust their syllabus and keep enough time
for children to engage in learning in a meaningful way, ask
questions to clarify their doubts, work with peers to practice
the concepts, and receive consistent reinforcement on their
learning and progress from their teachers.
Offering High‑Dosage Tutoring Programs
Teachers from government schools in the study suggested
that their schools implement remedial teaching and tutoring programs for children who were very weak in reading,
writing, and math. Some students will benefit from individualized reading and math activities. Therefore, schools can
arrange “high-dosage tutoring” programs where tutors provide tutoring to small groups of about 3 or 4, which will help
accelerate the learning progress of children in needy communities. High-dosage tutoring programs have been found
to be effective in Western countries (Patrinos, 2022). Some
NGOs, such as Pratham India, mobilize local community
members who are educated and train them in child-centered
pedagogy to provide high-dosage tutoring to children in their
community outside of school hours. These ideas can be replicated by other NGOs across India. States may collaborate
with NGOs and fund such tutoring programs.
The government schools in the study did not provide remedial teaching after or before school hours or on Saturdays.
Keeping in view the large learning losses among children
due to pandemic-induced school closures, state governments in India must adopt such programs both at the policy
and funding levels. As discussed before, Greece's remedial
teaching policy has been found to be effective in raising
children's academic performance.
Implementing Computer‑Assisted Instruction
as a Supplementary Tool
Keeping in view the extent of learning loss among children
as evidenced by the findings of this study and other studies,
schools must adopt computer-assisted instruction as a supplementary tool. The Global Education Evidence Advisory
Panel of the World Bank (2020) suggests that schools adopt
computer-assisted instruction which can increase learning
for all children. Uruguay used this approach nationwide and
reported positive results, especially for children from disadvantaged communities. However, for effective implementation, teachers must receive professional development on how
to use these software programs. Teachers in this study shared
that they did not receive training in technology instruction
before the pandemic and very minimal training during the
pandemic.
13
Early Childhood Education Journal
Focusing on Children’s Mental Health
and Behavioral Issues
Teachers in the study shared concerns over children’s
behavioral issues. Children’s behavioral issues originate
from their mental health challenges. School teachers in
India and other developing countries are not trained to
address children’s mental health issues. Moreover, most
schools in India do not house a school counselor to tackle
children's mental health and behavioral issues. Experts
view that most of the behavioral issues displayed by children after the reopening of schools emerged from the lockdown and social isolation during the pandemic (Sun et al.,
2022). Therefore, states must devote funding toward mental health and behavioral services such as hiring school
counselors, training teachers in children's mental health
and behavioral issues, implementing classroom support
services and interventions for children, implementing family–school partnership activities and parent workshops,
and conducting evaluation studies to identify the impact
of these efforts.
Limitations and Recommendations
for Future Research
This research study has some limitations. The study was
conducted during the beginning part of the in-person instruction. While cross-sectional studies help identify problems
that are unique to a certain time period, it would also be
useful to track changes in teachers' experiences and efforts
over time. Therefore, in the future, researchers might carry
out longitudinal studies to identify the challenges teachers
face throughout the first and, if possible, the second year of
in-person instruction and the progress that they observe. The
study did not include administrators, parents, or children.
Future studies may use these groups as participants in their
research and compare the perspectives shared by different
groups. The study did not include classroom observations.
Classroom observation data would have supplemented the
interview data and enhanced the credibility of the study
findings. However, teachers were assured that their names
and other identifications would be kept confidential so that
they could share their views candidly. We could not employ
member-checking, a practice recommended by qualitative
researchers to increase the rigor of the study. The beginning
of the in-person instruction period was a hectic period for
teachers to address children's socioemotional and academic
learning losses. So, it would have been an extra burden on
them if they had to read and provide us with suggestions for
making modifications to their transcript. Additionally, most
studies that focused on the impact of COVID-19 on children
13
did not present data separated by gender. However, the findings of the study by Mendolia et al. (2022) suggest the need
for research studies that assess the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on boys versus girls. This is crucial in the context
of developing countries where gender plays an important
role in all aspects of the individual, family, and society.
Conclusion
Experts connect the extent of children’s pandemic-induced
learning loss to the duration of school closure. Most developing countries, including India, suffered from prolonged
school closures. Moreover, remote instruction was found
to be ineffective as well as inaccessible to many children. This qualitative study with third-grade teachers in
a remote district (county) in India highlighted the extent
of learning loss in math and language arts, teachers’ sincere efforts to bridge the academic gaps and address children’s socio-behavioral issues, and challenges they faced
in this process. Teachers received minimal support from
the school and families. It is time that countries approach
learning loss as a systemic issue (Dougherty, 2021), take
responsibility for implementing research-based policies
and practices, and conduct comprehensive evaluation studies to identify successful measures. Otherwise, as Goldhaber et al. (2022) rightly state, “If allowed to become
permanent, such losses will have major impacts on future
earnings and intergenerational mobility” (p. 6).
Appendix 1: Interview Protocol
Background Questionnaire
1. Your age range: 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35–39, 40–44,
45–49, above 50
2. Gender:
3. Which class or standard do you teach now?
4. Is your school a private or government school?
5. How long have you been teaching?
6. How long have you been teaching in this particular class
or standard?
7. What mode of instruction did you provide during the
pandemic?
-In-person
-Remote (video):
-Remote (Phone):
-R emote (sending only instructional materials via
WhatsApp):
Early Childhood Education Journal
- Remote (sending only instructional materials via
email):
-Combination of in-person and remote instruction:
-Other:
8. D id you receive technology training before the
pandemic?
9. Did you receive technology training during the pandemic to teach online?
10. Approximately, what percentage of students attended
your online class in the first year of the pandemic?
11. Approximately, what percentage of students attended
your online class in the second year of the pandemic?
Interview Protocol
1. Math Performance
1a. What was expected from children in mathematics
(what children will be able to do at a minimum) when they
entered the third standard before the pandemic? Please give
some examples.
1b. Did the school give a baseline test on math?
2. If the school has given the baseline test on math,
then ask:
2a: Please compare this year’s children’s math performance with children in past years when they entered the ­3rd
standard based on the baseline test results and your math
lessons now. Please give some examples.
2b: Based on the baseline test result, what percentage
of children do you feel have achieved the beginning third
standard level for math?
3. If the school has not given the baseline test on math,
then ask:
3a: Please compare this year’s children’s math performance with children in past years when they entered the ­3rd
standard based on your teaching of math lessons now. Please
give some examples.
3b. In your estimate, what percentage of children in your
class have achieved the beginning third standard level for
math?
4. Reading Performance:
4a. What was expected from children in reading (both
reading fluency and comprehension or understanding of
what they read) when they entered the third standard before
the pandemic? Please give some examples.
4b. Did the school give a baseline test on reading fluency
and/or reading comprehension?
5. If the school has given the baseline test on reading
(fluency and/or comprehension) then ask:
5a: How does this year’s children’s performance in reading fluency and/or comprehension compare with that of children in past years when they entered ­3rd standard based on
the baseline test results and from your lesson teaching this
year? Please give some examples.
5b: Based on the baseline test result, what percentage
of children do you feel have achieved the beginning third
standard level for reading fluency and comprehension?
6. If the school has not given the baseline test on reading (fluency and/or comprehension), then ask:
6a. How do you compare this year’s children’s performance in reading comprehension and/or fluency with that
of children in past years when they entered the 3­ rd standard based on your teaching this year? Please give some
examples.
6b. In your estimate, what percentage of children in your
class have achieved the beginning third standard level for
math?
7. Writing Performance
7a. What was expected from children in writing (or what
they were able to do, such as write short sentences, a paragraph, or a short essay, etc.) when they entered the third
standard before the pandemic? Please give some examples.
7b. Did the school give a baseline test on writing?
8. If the school has given the baseline test on writing,
then ask:
8a. How does this year’s children’s performance in writing compare with that of children in past years when they
entered ­3rd standard based on the baseline test results and
from your lesson teaching this year? Please give some
examples.
8b. Based on the baseline test result, what percentage
of children do you feel have achieved the beginning third
standard level for writing?
9. If the school has not given the baseline test on writing, then ask:
9a. How does this year’s children’s performance in writing compare with that of children in past years when they
entered the ­3rd standard based on your teaching this year?
Please give some examples.
9b. In your estimate, what percentage of children in your
class have achieved the beginning third standard level for
math?
10. Raising the Learning Standard
10a. Is it possible to recover the loss of the last two years’
learning and bring children’s learning to the current standard
level by half-yearly examination time?
If they say yes:
10b. How are you planning to do it? Is there any extra
support provided to children, families, or teachers by the
school? If yes, please explain with examples.
If they say, no: ask,
10c: why?
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Early Childhood Education Journal
11. Children’s Issues
11a. Are you facing any issues with children’s attention
and motivational levels as they are attending school after
two years?
11b. Do you face any timely homework submission
issues? Please explain.
11c. Do you face any discipline or classroom management issues with children this year? If yes, is it happening
more frequently compared to before the pandemic?
11d. Do you face parental concerns about their children’s
learning-related issues (such as a lack of interest in attending
school or doing homework) or attentional, motivational, and
behavioural issues?
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