HEADlines | Developmental delays and learning loss

Issue 115: 31 May 2022

Every week, HEADlines brings you the latest news, stories and commentaries

in education and healthcare. This week, get insights on the latest developments in education.

Developmental delays and learning loss

Two years into the pandemic, we are only just starting to understand the impact of learning loss on students and the economy. In Hong Kong, repeated school closures led to long-term exclusion of extra-curricular activities from the school timetable, impacting students’ development of crucial interpersonal skills such as teamwork, leadership and public speaking. Early childhood educators in the United States have similarly seen the risk of developmental delays for pandemic-era babies double, partly due to reduced interaction with other children.

Internationally, researchers also highlight how school closures have resulted in unseen labour market impacts including lifetime income reduction for graduates , in what is considered to be the “the largest loss of human capital in living memory and the worst education crisis in a century”.

The international community needs to address crucial interpersonal developmental areas that were neglected in two years of remote learning, or risk compounding the loss of human capital development of an entire generation resulting in long-term economic consequences.

Education in the Spotlight:

The Star | Malaysia implements five initiatives to address drop in graduates' marketability

The five initiatives are part of the reskilling and upskilling programme: the KPT-Career Advancement Programme (KPT-CAP), Teaching Factory programme, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Transformation Programme, flexible and micro-credential programmes as well as mobility programmes.

The Straits Times | NIE to train teachers in using AI classroom, invest in research

Teachers in Singapore will be trained to employ artificial intelligence as the technology becomes more common in the classrooms and the daily lives of students with smartphones and other everyday gadgets.

NPR | Four high school students talk mental health and how the pandemic changed them

Young people have shown grace and resilience as they dealt with the challenges of COVID-19. Four high school students marked the pandemic's two year anniversary with a newfound sense of self, and big dreams for the future.

Ed Surge | Teen sleep, brain science and the debate over school start times

Teens have different, and greater needs when it comes to sleep than people of other ages. But plenty of schools make it hard for teens to get the amount of sleep that doctors recommend.

Ed Surge | Students need summer learning that doesn't feel like school

Schools are going into this summer with five shared priorities: giving kids learning options that (1) don’t feel like school, (2) focus on healthy relationships, (3) provide voice and choice, (4) are joyful and fun, (5) are able to re-energise and replenish.

The Conversation | How early childhood education is responding to climate change

A paradigm shift in early childhood education can provide a path to deeper societal changes that are required. The shift means moving from learning that is information-driven to learning that is situated, speculative and experimental.

That's all for the week!

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