ISLAMABAD   -    Speakers on Friday said that the Covid-19 crisis has laid bare the gaping and persistent inequities in educational opportunities in the country which may not only result in large scale learning losses but also widen the learning and enrolment gaps across class, gender, location, disability and other markers of social positioning.

A webinar titled “SDG 4, Covid-19 and Building Back Better” was held here yesterday to identify the most effective strategies through which Pakistan’s education sector may build better after schools reopening and is able to provide learning continuity to all those affected by the school closures, forming the hard core of Sustainable Development (SDG) Goal 4 and Right to Education (RTE) challenge.

The webinar was hosted by civil society organization Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), in collaboration with Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) Pakistan.

Speaking at the event, they highlighted the adverse impact of Covid-19 on the education of all children and insisted on the need to have a robust system in place to mitigate the negative effects of any future crisis.

With over 39.6 million pre-primary, primary, and secondary students affected in Pakistan, the initial response by the federal ministry and the provincial education departments was to test out the use of distance learning solutions such as TeleSchool, TaleemGhar and learning apps.

Umbreen Arif highlighted these efforts undertaken by the federal government to facilitate children’s education during Covid-19 and shed light on the government’s plan on building back better the education system of the country.