We are experiencing what is potentially one of the greatest threats in our life to global education. We were already experiencing a global learning crisis. The World Bank's "learning poverty" indicator, that is, the percentage of children who cannot read or understand a simple text by age 10, was 53% for children in third world countries. This was before the crisis. This pandemic has the potential to further worsen these outcomes if not acted upon appropriately.

How can this phase of the crisis affect children and young people?
1. Decreased learning.
2. Increase in dropout rates.
3. Children who miss the most important meal of the day. Furthermore, most countries have highly unequal education systems, and the poorest children will be the most affected.
Richer countries are better prepared to move towards online learning strategies (albeit with a lot of effort and challenges for teachers and parents).

In contrast, in the poorest and middle-income countries, the situation is very heterogeneous; and without the right interventions, the great inequality of opportunity that exists (already immense and unacceptable to begin with) will be amplified. Many children do not have a desk, books, reading material, an internet connection, a home computer, or supportive parents. Others do. What we must avoid, or minimize as much as possible, is that these differences in opportunities expand and cause the crisis to have an even greater negative effect on the learning of poor children.

Fortunately, we are seeing a lot of creativity. Many education ministries are concerned that basing remote learning solely on online strategies will involve reaching only the children of wealthier families. The appropriate strategy in many countries is to use all possible modes of delivery using existing infrastructure.

These include using online tools to ensure that instructional guides with detailed lesson plans, videos, tutorials, and other resources are available to some students and probably most teachers. But also, podcasts and other resources that require less data usage when downloaded to a smartphone.

Working in conjunction with telecommunications companies to implement “zero-rate” programs, eliminating the cost of downloading material from educational websites, or portals of the ministry of education, can encourage access through a smartphone, a device to which most students have access.

It is essential to maintain students linked to the educational process, especially young people from secondary school. Dropout rates remain very high in many countries, and a long period of school absence can result in a larger increase. It is important to stay connected to the school by whatever means necessary.

School is not just about learning math and science; it is also social relationships and interactions (and learning) between peers. The role of parents and family, which has always been extremely important, now takes on much greater importance.

Therefore, much of the help provided by the ministries of education, working through radio, television and SMS messages should be aimed at supporting parents, giving them advice and suggestions on how to better support their children in this complex situation. Last but not least, in many parts of the world, school feeding programs provide children with the most nutritious meal of the day.

They are essential for cognitive development and well-being. These programs are very complex logistical and administrative endeavors. It is not easy, but countries need to find a way to provide these meals using school facilities in an organized way, or community networks or, if necessary, distribute them directly to families. If the delivery of meals or groceries is not logistically feasible, monetary subsidy programs should be expanded or implemented to compensate parents.

Parents will be more involved in the educational process of their children. The ministries of education will learn to use technology effectively and will be able to act to reduce those gaps. All of this can strengthen a country's educational system.

The mission of all educational systems remains. It is overcoming the learning crisis that we were already experiencing. As education systems deal with this crisis, they must also plan how to recover, with a renewed sense of responsibility from all actors and with a better understanding and sense of urgency of the need to ensure that all children have the same chances of receiving a quality education.