19 July,2023 03:24 PM IST | New Delhi | PTI
Image used for representational purpose. Pic/iStock
School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic caused extreme learning losses, World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Wednesday, underlining the need to devise a mechanism to prevent such situations before the next pandemic hits.
"We have a real challenge for the generation which was undergoing schooling during the pandemic," Banga said, responding to a question by PTI.
"Developed and developing countries were learning how to deal with it when we were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been extreme learning losses due to prolonged school closures during the period...and dealing with the learning losses is not just India's problem, it is an issue across the globe," he said.
"My view is that we must learn now. We have to fix what we have got, pretty much make sure we learn before the next pandemic, devise a mechanism...or we will make the same mistakes again. The next one (pandemic) will come fore sure. It is a question of how long before it does come? To me that is the bigger issue," he added.
The World Bank had previously noted that the prolonged closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India may cause a loss of over USD 400 billion in the country's future earnings, besides substantial learning losses.
ALSO READ
World Bank experts praise Kerala's education reforms, offer collaboration
World Bank raises India growth forecast to 7 pc for FY25
World Bank projects India to grow at 7 pc in FY25
World Bank delegation visits NCRTC, discusses collaborations in urban transit
Telangana holding talks with World Bank for loans with low interest rates: CM Revanth Reddy
Indian-American Banga, 63, took over as the president of the World Bank last month, becoming the first person of colour to head either of the two global financial institutions -- the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Banga is on his first visit to India after taking over the charge of the global lender. He will attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Ahmedabad.
Earlier, in the day he visited a skill centre in Dwarka and interacted with students.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.