Asia’s kids risk $1.25trn in income from closed schools

Bloomberg

Widespread school closures amid the pandemic will likely reduce students’ future productivity and wages, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said, estimating the present value of prospective lost earnings at $1.25 trillion for developing Asia.
The region’s students, who on average have lost nearly one-third of the academic year to school closures, could see a 2.4% decline in their future earnings, or about $180 a year, the ADB said in its report. The income loss would be equivalent to 5.4% of the region’s 2020 output.
Only a handful of economies managed to keep schools open continuously. In South Asia, where closures have been longest, students lost more than half a year of learning, the ADB said. Students in East Asia lost 39% of a year in learning, while those in Southeast Asia lost 35%. “Remote learning strategies were deployed in most economies to keep students learning,” the lender said.