A global outlook to the interruption of education due to COVID-19 Pandemic - Navigating in a time of uncertainty and crisis

Oct 15, 2026

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Uncertain times require prompt reflexes, and this collaborative study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education across K-12 and higher learning. Drawing on cases from 31 countries representing 62.7% of the world population, it synthesizes shared reflections and lessons learned. The findings characterize current responses as emergency remote education, distinct from planned distance education and online learning. The research also highlights worsened social injustice, inequity, and the digital divide, and calls for targeted measures, a pedagogy of care, and attention to assessment, surveillance, ethics, and data privacy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages126

Reading Time5 h 18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Emergency Remote Education

A global outlook to the interruption of education due to COVID-19 Pandemic: Navigating in a time of uncertainty and crisis Aras Bozkurt, Insung Jung, Junhong Xiao, Viviane Vladimirschi, Robert Schuwer, Gennady Egorov, Sarah R. Lambert, Maha Al-Freih, Judith Pete, Don Olcott, Jr. , Virginia Rodes, Ignacio Aranciaga, Maha Bali, Abel V. Alvarez, Jr. , Jennifer Roberts, Angelica Pazurek, Juliana Elisa Raffaghelli, Nikos Panagiotou, Perrine de Coëtlogon, Sadik Shahadu, Mark Brown, Tutaleni I. Asino, Josephine Tumwesige, Tzinti Ramírez Reyes, Emma Barrios Ipenza, Ebba Ossiannilsson, Melissa Bond , Kamel Belhamel, Valerie Irvine, Ramesh C. Sharma, Taskeen Adam, Ben Janssen, Tatiana Sklyarova , Nicoleta Olcott, Alejandra Ambrosino, Chrysoula Lazou, Bertrand Mocquet, Mattias Mano, Michael Paskevicius Abstract: Uncertain times require prompt reflexes to survive and this study is a collaborative reflex to better understand uncertainty and navigate through it. The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic hit hard and interrupted many dimensions of our lives, particularly education. As a response to interruption of education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this study is a collaborative reaction that narrates the overall view, reflections from the K12 and higher educational landscape, lessons learned and suggestions from a total of 31 countries across the world with a representation of 62.7% of the whole world population. In addition to the value of each case by country, the synthesis of this research suggests that the current practices can be defined as emergency remote education and this practice is different from planned practices such as distance education, online learning or other derivations. Above all, this study points out how social injustice, inequity and the digital divide have been exacerbated during the pandemic and need unique and targeted measures if they are to be addressed. While there are support communities and mechanisms, parents are overburdened between regular daily/professional duties and emerging educational roles, and all parties are experiencing trauma, psychological pressure and anxiety to various degrees, which necessitates a pedagogy of care, affection and empathy. In terms of educational processes, the interruption of education signifies the importance of openness in education and highlights issues that should be taken into consideration such as using alternative assessment and evaluation methods as well as concerns about surveillance, ethics, and data privacy resulting from nearly exclusive dependency on online solutions. Keywords: emergency remote education, distance education, online learning, Coronavirus Pandemic, Covid-19. Introduction Following the first-time identification of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that Covid-19 is a global pandemic in March 2020, and warned about its highly contagious nature (WHO, 2020) . As a precaution to slow down its spread, countries all around the world followed strict protocols such as complete or partial lockdowns, social distancing regulations, and curfews. To reduce the chances of humans infecting each other with Covid-19, places where humans interact closely were shut down, including educational institutions. Accordingly, as an outcome of the measures taken worldwide, more than 1.5 billion enrolled students of all ages from all around the globe experienced interruption of education which equals nearly 90% of the global student population (UNESCO, 2020a; 2020b; UNICEF, 2020) . Though the interruption of education has occurred previously in many local instances (e.g. , in cases of war, civil unrest, famine or strikes) it is “being experienced more acutely and affectively by educators, students and parents” at a global scale for the first time (Williamson, Eynon, & Potter, 2020, p. 107) . Consequently, to ensure the continuity of education, emergency remote education was put in practice in varying delivery modes. Em

FAQs

What is the main focus of this study on COVID-19 and education disruption?

It provides a collaborative global view of how education interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic affected K-12 and higher education, including reflections, lessons learned, and suggestions.

How does the study distinguish emergency remote education from distance education?

Emergency remote education is described as an obligation to survive during crisis using available resources, while distance education is a planned activity grounded in specific theoretical and practical knowledge.

What key issues are reported as being exacerbated during the pandemic?

The study highlights increased social injustice, inequity, and the digital divide, alongside psychological pressure, anxiety, and trauma affecting different parties.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Marglet