Never close schools again - never. When I say that, I mean - absolutely never, Dr. said in an interview for "Vijesti". Irvin Studin, President of the Institute for 21st Century Issues from Canada and Chair of the World Commission on Educating All Children in the Post-Pandemic Period.
He warned that already at the beginning of the 21st century we have one big global underclass - for which we are to blame. This uneducated and undereducated underclass will be present in every segment of our states and societies for decades to come, causing massive instability, underachievement and distress in many countries.
The underclass, warns Irvin, was created precisely because of the closure of schools and colleges during the coronavirus pandemic, because millions of students around the world have completely dropped out of school, and the knowledge of those who continued is significantly weaker.
"Many did not have access to the Internet or adequate devices... For those who did, the academic results were in most cases weaker compared to what would have been the case with traditional schooling before the pandemic," said Irvin.
Children from the risk categories of society had the hardest time, he assessed - those for whom the school was a refuge, because they live in dysfunctional and violent families.
Dr. Studin's visit was hosted by the vice-dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, dr Biljana Maslovaric, who last year spoke at the World Summit of the Institute for 21st Century Issues in Toronto, when she represented Europe with her colleague from Hungary.
During his visit to Podgorica, Dr. Studin spoke with numerous state officials, representatives of educational authorities, and UN organizations.
"Montenegro should consider the possibility of making education the number one political priority," said Studin.
It seems that all emergency situations (epidemics, war events, certain types of threats) are "paid for" by pupils and students, because classes are interrupted in the affected areas. How do you comment on that?
Thanks to years of research and conducting studies in over 60 countries on all continents, we learned that the closing of schools due to the pandemic led to the greatest human disaster of the pandemic period - hundreds of millions of ordinary children around the world permanently stopped their education. In most cases, these are children who attended regular schools very regularly until their mass closure for a long period, starting in March 2020. The fact that such a large number of children never returned to school, even when schools reopened in 2021 and 2022, means that we now have one large global underclass at the start of the 21st century - all our own fault. This uneducated and undereducated underclass will be present in every segment of our states and societies for decades to come, causing massive instability, underachievement and distress in many countries - even those considered the most advanced before the pandemic.
Therefore, I believe that the first and fundamental lesson that humanity emerging from the pandemic must adopt is that it must never close schools again under any circumstances - absolutely never. Education must be available to our children, regardless of pressure or emergency - pandemic, war, natural disaster or whatever, because there will inevitably be many of these pressures and emergencies in the years and decades to come. Despite everything, we must continue with education. Or we will lose the century before us.
How does the interruption of classes affect students? Do such forced interruptions of classes leave any consequences for children and young people who are in school?
School closures during the pandemic have had a strong and two-fold impact on children's education in most countries that have closed their schools for long periods of time. The first impact is manifested in the expulsion of hundreds of millions of children, permanently, from all forms of education. We classify these children in the "third category", whereby in the "first category" are those who attend classes in physical classrooms, and in the "second category" those who attend virtual or digital classes. Another impact is manifested in the significantly weaker education and insufficient socialization of a large, if not the largest, number of children who were in the education system before the closure and who remained in it both during and after the closure.
Thermodynamically speaking, if we look at this problem from the point of view of physics, closing schools resembles the release of enormous "energy" from the school system, which in most countries is the largest system. When schools resumed work and were reopened after a long period, their work rested on less energy compared to 2019. Students were lost, habits and discipline collapsed, and ambitions never less. Thus, during 2022, 2023 and 2024, schools in many countries functioned in energy-reduction mode without properly preparing children who had already lost a lot of time and learning during the shutdown. All this is taking place in the context of a crueler post-pandemic world that requires even better preparation than would have been the case without the pandemic.
During the coronavirus pandemic, kindergartens, schools, and universities were the first to be hit by closures. Online classes are organized. Did she have an effect?
It's not. Online education has proven to be an unmitigated disaster during the pandemic - with very few exceptions and in very few countries. First, in most countries, the transition to online education meant that, almost immediately, a large part of the student population would be relegated to the aforementioned third category (the group for which there is no school at all) due to lack of Internet access or an adequate device. In some richer countries, there are only 1 to 2 percent of such students, while in less rich countries there are 80 or 90 percent of such students. When it comes to those who did have access to the Internet, we can imagine what it was like for children living in violent households and how much they could really "learn" during such organized classes. It is clear that many could not learn that way: the quarantine lasted, so children who had been sheltered from abuse at school in the past were stuck at home. Then there are children with learning difficulties or physical disabilities, as well as children with language difficulties, including migrant and refugee children. Unfortunately, many girls in countries like India, Pakistan or Uganda, who were successful students until March 2020, were married when schools were closed. Many boys and girls are employed very early and work full time. In the end, a very large number of teenagers left any form of schooling, and that forever, when they switched to online classes, because school lost all meaning for them - virtual school meant that there would be no physical friends, sports, mentors, school plays, music and overall school atmosphere. For such teenagers, the only step needed to leave education was to turn off the screen.
For students who managed to stay involved in education through online classes, academic results were in most cases weaker than what would have been the case with traditional physical schooling before the pandemic. Such students returned to school academically behind and, in many cases, depressed, anxious and unmotivated, because the virtual world did not offer nearly the energy of the physical world.
Can it be said that, regardless of the enormous effort put in by the lecturers, the level of knowledge of pupils and students dropped considerably during the pandemic? If it can, why did it happen?
If the student did remain in the education system, his or her achievement would typically be significantly lower upon returning to the reopened school than it would have been if there had been no closure. The longer the school was closed, the greater the decline in academic achievement. The reason is that online learning is clearly inferior to live learning for children, especially in a proper school environment with discipline, routines, structure and, critically, “energy”. All these elements are lost on the Internet, as there are only one-way instructions for children that cannot be seen or felt. These same children, on the other hand, do not see their friends, are unable to interpret the environment in which they find themselves, socially and intellectually, are deprived of the opportunity to play sports, participate in collective games, and enjoy music. Therefore, they are deprived of all the essential elements that make up the life of students in primary and secondary school in a good educational system.
I have already mentioned that students from online classes returned to schools characterized by "lower energy", lowered academic standards, lost habits and weak ambitions. These "low-energy" schools, after the pandemic, made students unable to make up for lost learning and socialization in time, because the preparatory period for students and children, as we know, is limited in time.
In Montenegro, you met with numerous officials. What is your impression of education in Montenegro?
I cannot interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, except those that concern my country. However, Montenegro is a young country. It inherited a great educational tradition from the Yugoslav period. The population is very smart. Primary and secondary education lasts 13 years, which is commendable. But its education system suffered significantly during and after school closures during the pandemic. The country should consider making education its number one political priority and never close schools again, and realize that young people represent its future (which has yet to be built!).
School must be "high energy"
What are your recommendations regarding crisis situations, which are related to education?
First, never close schools again - never. When I say that, I mean - absolutely never! We must continue education, live and in all circumstances, even in emergency situations. Tomorrow will inevitably bring disasters and force majeure, but even then we must continue to educate children, because we know how disastrous it is for children and the whole society when the school doors close and when the regular rhythm of the school year is lost.
Second, in addition to the "right to education", countries must understand and accept their "duty to educate" all children. This duty is above the right, because it is the obligation of adults, while the right is something that belongs to children. It is always adults who violate children's educational rights.
Third, it is necessary to find and reintegrate into education all those children who left education during the pandemic due to school closures. It is our moral obligation.
Finally, all schools reopening after extended pandemic closures must reopen with “high energy,” not “low energy.” This is necessary in order to overcome the inertia of the pandemic period and enable children to make up for lost learning and development in every way.
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