When COVID-19 lockdowns were first implemented around the world, many schools transitioned quickly to online learning—remote learning where students continued to attend their classes and complete schoolwork online. One of the overall major problems of online learning was students’ lack of access to technology, such as computers to continue ‘attending’ school without having to step foot into their classrooms. While some school districts lent out computers to students in low-income households in the United States, the case was different for Latin America. In many Latin American cities and countries, instead of using virtual methods through the internet and computers so students could continue learning, schools had no choice but to be completely shut down due to the closure of classrooms and the lack of access to technology at home. As a continent with many developing countries, Latin America has an extreme poverty rate of 13.8 percent with an overall poverty rate of 32.1 percent as of 2021, and three-quarters of its population are low to lower middle-income. Because the majority of the population is not financially secure, they have limited access to technology and the internet. Students from low-income households were unable to learn. Thus, an education crisis was created. 

While practically every country in the world completely halted learning in person, Latin America, including the Caribbean, was the region that had gone the longest time without in-person learning. According to UNICEF, two-thirds of the countries worldwide that remained closed by March 2021 were in Latin America. Seven months after the shutdowns, 97 percent of students in Latin America—which is 137 million students—went without in person school. A year after the shutdown, only seven countries reopened schools, while 114 million students went without schooling. These countries could not continue educating children online. Those living in rural areas and marginalized communities, such as indigenous populations, migrants, and refugees suffered the most, even to the point where the children in those communities were less likely to return to school at all. Indigenous groups have less resources to support themselves, especially their education, where a majority of their communities have a lack of access to the internet, therefore being unable to continue learning virtually. For marginalized groups, lack of education due to their limited access to resources is evident. 

In the case of Guatemala, different regions had to utilize different styles of learning during COVID. Due to the type of area students lived in and the funding their school received, many could not learn in-person or even virtually. Private schools easily opened because of a higher budget compared to public schools who only have around $5 per child. Countries such as Brazil allowed all private schools to resume in-person by October 7, 2021, as well as higher education public institutions, while lower and public middle schools had to reopen on November 3. The lack of funding meant that public schools also lacked basic necessities for students, removing them from their educational spaces. This also cut access to resources beyond just educational resources, such as school-based healthcare, nutritional programs, which for some could have been their only access to consistent food, and resources for students with disabilities. According to UNICEF Regional Director, Jean Gough, “Children here have been out of the classroom longer than any other child in the world. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the loss will be more disastrous and far-ranging than in any other region for children, for parents and for the society at large.”

With the extensive amount of time that students were out of school, learning loss was a great concern. A report based on Colombia reveals that Saber 11 (National 11 grade exam Colombian students take) scores post-COVID shut downs showed a 0.2 standard deviation decrease compared to scores from the past year. The greatest losses based on the exam were in English, reading, and social sciences. The report also mentions that schools that reopened later suffered greater learning loss.

The development of younger children was disrupted in various ways, resulting in low-level proficiencies in reading, writing, and math. According to a 2021 World Bank report, after a full year of schools being shut down, 71 percent of younger secondary students may not understand moderate length text, and the percentage could rise to 77 percent of schools remaining closed for three more months. An article by Kirchner reveals that in addition to learning loss, the closure of schools generated mental and physical health issues in children and adolescents. They showed signs of increased stress, anxiety, and other emotional reactions. This does not just affect the current secondary school students, but could also have a large effect on the future of the countries in the case of the economy and productivity. 
The long time outside the classroom has created a larger gap between marginalized and non-marginalized groups. These countries can recover as long as they focus on the education system and improving the learning environment of the students who suffered the most from school shutdowns, especially those who had little to no access to technology to continue learning. A recent World Bank report expressed the need to prioritize foundational reading and math skills and implement learning recovery strategies. Although recovering from learning loss could be a difficult process for some countries, there is still hope for the returning students to relearn what was lost or couldn’t be learned, and ensure a promising future.

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