Policy Brief on School Reopening in Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions to education in Africa and worldwide, and in African countries, due to school closures. Many countries have made great strides in ensuring safe reopening of schools to stem the erosion of the gains made in access to equitable and quality education, escalation of risks to children’s mental and physical health and the long-term impact of loss of learning associated with school closures. This policy brief highlights the evidence of the policy and practice responses on school reopening. It is based on the synthesis report by the KIX Observatory on COVID-19 Responses by Educational Systems in 40 African partner countries of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

This policy brief is one of several outputs of the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) COVID-19 Observatory, which aims to provide policymakers in GPE partner countries with actionable evidence to inform their decisions.

It has been developed with the intent to encourage and promote a culture of knowledge and evidence sharing about policy- and practice-level education interventions in response the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as targeted recommendations.