Learning crisis persists in Southeast Asia-UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says Southeast Asia continues to face a learning crisis, with one in every two Grade 5 children still unable to read at the expected level.

- Bella Cariaso, Philippine Star News Service/FPL

Citing the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2024 regional report, UNICEF noted that despite years of COVID-related school closures which affected an estimated 70 million children across the region and other disruptions such as climate-related disasters, children's reading abilities remain largely unchanged from 2019 levels. Mathematics performance, meanwhile, shows only modest improvement.

The study found that overall learning progress has stalled, with children from disadvantaged socioeconomic, linguistic, and geographic backgrounds continuing to trail behind their peers.

Covering six countries, the report provides the first post-pandemic snapshot of children's learning in Southeast Asia. It assessed Grade 5 learning outcomes in the Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.