This policy brief explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and the efforts to reopen schools. The pandemic led to prolonged school closures, affecting over 60% of the Global Partenreship for Education (GPE) partner countries, with closures lasting more than 200 days. By June 2021, nearly 90% of countries had reopened their schools. Challenges included fears from parents and teachers, insufficient funding, loss of income, rising school fees, infrastructure deficits, and policies that prevented pregnant girls and young mothers from attending school.

To alleviate these challenges, various measures were implemented: provision of masks, improved sanitary facilities, physical distancing, temperature checks, and prioritization of teachers for vaccination. Back-to-school campaigns involved stakeholder participation, the use of local media for child-friendly messaging, and the removal of restrictive policies.

The central government played a key role in reopening decisions and funding. Despite these efforts, the reopening was marked by a decline in enrollment, highlighting the need for more inclusive and gender-sensitive educational approaches to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on education.