Situation analysis on the effects of and responses to COVID-19 on the Education sector in Southeast Asia: Sub-regional report

Background

The global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic was unique as it affected the whole world with the twin shocks of a health emergency and an economic recession. There will be a long-term negative impact on human capital accumulation, development prospects and welfare. The pandemic has affected all parts of the world and the responses to the situation have disproportionally affected the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society.This situation analysis has been undertaken as part of the broader analysis initiated by UNICEF and UNESCO to provide a snapshot of the educational responses and effects of COVID-19 across Asia. It considers the direct effects of school closures and reopenings and identifies the initial impact that this may have on learners, their families as well as on the overall education system. 

The objectives of the analysis are:

• to assess and estimate the various impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education sector and stakeholders in Asia; 
• to examine policy and financial implications on progress towards achieving SDG 4-Education 2030 and;
• to identify examples of promising responses and strategies in education and associated social sectors, which can be shared with other countries. 

This report looks at Southeast Asia, a diverse group of 11 mainland countries and island states. Across the 11 countries, five political models are used, which provide a diversity of responses to crises within the sub-region: four democratic republics (Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Timor-Leste), three constitutional monarchies (Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia), one absolute monarchy (Brunei Darussalam), a pair of socialist republics (Lao PDR and Viet Nam) and one Unitary parliamentary provisional government under military control (Myanmar).1 Income and wealth are highly disparate as two of the wealthiest countries in the world (Brunei Darussalam and Singapore) and two of the poorest countries in the world (Cambodia and Timor-Leste) are found in the sub-region.2 The three case study countries looked at in more detail in the situation analysis are Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam.

COVID-19 in Southeast Asia

The first cases of COVID-19 appeared in Southeast Asia in February 2020. A year later the pandemic is still affecting lives in the region. Countries that swiftly brought in national lockdowns and closed their borders (such as Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam) managed to keep the numbers of infections and deaths low, whereas those with higher population density such as Singapore found this more difficult.

The Southeast Asia sub-region is experienced at managing natural disasters, and mechanisms were in place to respond quickly and across sectors. As would be expected, the pandemic was seen first and foremost as a health emergency with actions taken to keep lives safe and prevent the spread of infection. All countries imposed a lockdown on their populations which closed schools, businesses, industry, shops and affected all aspects of people’s lives including access to healthcare. These measures, while protecting life had a major impact on the economy and also on household finances, and while social protection systems were mobilized and reached some of the population, they were not enough to support all families, leaving many people vulnerable. 

The main policy response to the pandemic which affected children was the closure of schools. This meant that countries had to act fast to provide alternative access to learning for as many children as possible. With uneven access to services and resources across many countries in the sub-region, a far greater challenge was to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized children and try to address any widening of the learning divide. The level of school closures in the sub-region varied widely, from year-long school closures in the Philippines to countries with lower infection rates such as Brunei Darussalam, Lao PDR and Timor -Leste, which opened all schools between June and August 2020 and have kept them open. In many of the other countries, schools have opened and closed and reopened based on peaks in infection rates (second and third waves) and localized spikes in transmission.Executive summary