is France one of the 10% of countries that have closed schools the least?

“All the controversies I have had lately have been concomitant with work by Unesco which said that France is one of the great countries which has managed not to close schools. in the 10% of countries that have closed schools the least”defended the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, questioned on Sunday February 13, on franceinfo.

Unesco data clearly shows that France is one of the 10% of countries to have closed schools the least during the pandemic. Out of 193 countries, less than twenty have closed schools for less than 20 weeks at all levels (partial or total closures). France is one of them with “only” twelve weeks of closure since the start of the crisis. In Europe, most countries have also closed their schools longer than us. Only Switzerland and Croatia closed for a shorter period (six weeks and ten weeks respectively). Spain also closed 15 weeks. All the other countries have closed for more than 20 weeks: 38 weeks for Germany and Italy in particular. The record being held by Latvia with 49 weeks of closure.

According to Unesco, “the closure, even temporary, of schools entails high social and economic costs”. A study by the UN agency published last year showed that because of the Covid, the number of children who do not have the basics in reading has jumped by 20%, while the situation has tended to improve in recent years. years. Dramatic consequences that affect the poorest countries more strongly. And these learning losses could also be very expensive. When a child loses education, their future life is also potentially impacted. Hence this projection of the World Bank estimating that this generation risks losing 17,000 billion dollars throughout its life.