Project CEMAPRE internal
| Title | Title: How did Covid 19 Pandemic affect Students’ school learning in the transition from Upper Secondary to Higher Education |
| Participants | Graça Leão Fernandes (Principal Investigator), Margarida C Lopes |
| Summary | The global outbreak of COVID-19 has left an indelible mark on education systems worldwide, affecting students across various grade levels. Extensive literature, including reports from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and UNESCO, highlights the widespread impact of the pandemic, revealing significant learning losses at all educational stages. Particularly, lower grades experienced a more substantial setback than higher education (HE), with a pronounced decline in subjects like Mathematics and Reading. The swift transition from traditional to online or hybrid learning formats, essential to curbing the virus's spread, posed challenges for students. The urgency of this shift, especially evident in Portugal's one-month adaptation period, underscored the importance of students' access to digital resources. Notably, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds faced increased barriers, leading to severe learning setbacks and diminished motivation. This research builds upon prior studies that explored factors influencing academic achievement, dropout rates, and delays in Higher Education (HE) enrollment, showing how these factors vary with economic cycles. In the current study, we aim to assess the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these existing challenges. Additionally, we will evaluate the effectiveness of measures taken by the Portuguese government to address pandemic-induced learning losses by examining academic performance trends from 2018 to 2022. |