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School closures and continuity of learning measures
School closures were common throughout the region in 2020 and 2021, including during the pandemics, epidemics and natural disasters referenced in the questionnaire. School leaders were asked to indicate how long their school was closed due to, respectively, a pandemic, epidemic, natural disaster, or other reasons in these years. Durations for school closures were collected separately for each of these categories.
School closures
Most students (64%) attended schools that were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the years of 2020 and 2021, with less than four out of ten (36%) students attending schools that were not closed at all. Of the students who attended schools that were closed during the pandemic, over half (52%) attended schools that were closed for more than eight weeks during 2020 and 2021. Most students attended schools that were closed for a significant period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regional average percentage of students attending schools that were closed for various reasons in 2020 and 2021, by school closure duration and reason for closure.
Continuity of learning measures
Along with the school closure information, school leaders were asked to indicate what measures were in place to provide continuity of learning during school closures. The measures that were asked about focused on the provision and availability of learning materials and communication with students and parents. Table SLT3.3 shows the percentage of students in Federated States of Micronesia in PILNA 2021 who attended schools with specific continuity of learning measures being implemented, available but not implemented, and not available.
On average, 45% of students in Federated States of Micronesia attended schools where learning materials were made available for pick-up from schools during closures. A further 31% of students attended schools where this measure was in place but not implemented. Providing learning materials for pick-up was the most common learning measure adopted by schools.
The next most available measure for students was a step up from having learning materials available for pickup; this was physically delivering learning materials to a student’s home. This measure was implemented in schools attended by 28% of students. A further 26% of students attended schools where this measure was available but not implemented. These are both continuity of learning measures that involve physical learning materials, such as workbooks.
Communication via social media and/or by email with students and parents was the next most common learning continuity measure, with 14% of students attending schools that implemented this measure. A further 24% of students attended schools that had access to this measure but did not implement it. Over six in ten students (62%) attended schools where the measure was not available.
Measures to provide learning materials electronically – by email or downloadable online – were also implemented by schools. Measures to provide learning materials by radio or television were not reported by school leaders as being used. Overall, fewer students attended schools where non-physical measures were implemented than attended schools where physical learning measures were implemented.
A minority of students attended schools where downloadable electronic learning materials were implemented. The proportion of students attending schools with materials available for download from a website or portals was 11% and the proportion that implemented email distribution of learning materials was 6%.
What does this mean?
School closures affected large numbers of students across the region during 2020 and 2021. Pandemic-related school closures were the most common. On average, only one-third of students attended schools that did not close for pandemic reasons. Countries experienced different levels of school closures for pandemics, epidemics, natural disasters, and other reasons.
To provide continuity of learning during these closures, many measures were made available for students in the region. The majority of these involved physical learning materials, although there were efforts by some schools to provide learning continuity through social media and email.
The finding that physical learning continuity measures were implemented over the largest proportions of students may speak to the challenges of implementing learning measures through social and other electronic communication media in the Pacific region. It is also the case that, in many countries, physical learning materials are still key to the learning experience. Local context is needed to fully understand the reasons behind the various learning continuity measures.
