54 International The EconomistMarch 21st 2020
2 Those preparing to take crucial exams are
particularly jittery. The gaokao, China’s
single university-entrance exam, is usually
held in June. This year it will probably be
delayed, says Xu Liangdi of China Policy, a
think-tank, although the government has
so far made no announcement.
Around 245,000 students in Britain
were expecting in May and June to sit their
a-levels, the exams that determine which
university—if any—will grant them a place.
On March 18th the government announced
that those exams would be cancelled. Boris
Johnson, the prime minister, said that the
government would make sure that chil-
dren still got “the qualifications they need
and deserve for their academic career.”
That may go some way to assuaging fears
that children whose parents lack the cash
or knowledge to compensate for schools
closing would be worst affected.
For American students the stakes are
lower, in part because their transcript—
based on their academic performance
throughout the year—is the most impor-
tant part of their university application,
but also because they can take sats, the ex-
ams used in college admissions, all year
round. Most sit them in the spring. For
those hoping to start university in 2021, the
March and May tests have been cancelled.
They will be rescheduled, however, and
students may be able to take them at home.
Nonetheless universities may have to
be more accommodating. Covid-19 will
“absolutely” affect the admissions proce-
dure for Miami University in Ohio, says
Bethany Perkins, the director of admis-
sions—particularly the deadlines. Stu-
dents with offers from American universi-
ties have to choose which to accept by May
1st. But students worry that they will have
to make an important decision without be-
ing able to visit any campuses. Along with
their parents, some are calling for the date
to be pushed back to June 1st. Colleges have
yet to react. Harvard says it is not changing
its application process.
The disruption has lent ammunition to
those who disapprove of high-stakes ex-
ams, which some education theorists want
to scrap. Some institutions have already
made sats optional. Others, including Mi-
ami University, were considering doing so.
The upheaval caused by covid-19 might ac-
celerate that process, says Ms Perkins. But
the flaws of other kinds of assessment may
become clear in the coming months, bol-
stering those who believe that sats and
other high-stakes exams, which offer a rel-
atively objective and transparent measure
of ability, are the least unfair way to decide
who gets into university.
The pandemic won’t change this. But it
will highlight the strengths and weakness-
es of teaching online. Online resources are
increasingly popular but few countries
boast a developed digital infrastructure forall students. A survey by Teacher Tapp, an
app, of over 6,000 teachers in Britain found
that only 40% of those in state schools
would be able to broadcast a video lesson,
compared with 69% of teachers at indepen-
dent schools. Elena Silva of New America, a
think-tank, says that few American states
have adequate kit for teaching online.
“Most states are not that prepared. This is a
moment of forced opportunity.”
Teachers have little choice but to seize
it. Since Italy closed its schools and univer-
sities on March 5th, teachers’ forums have
filled with discussions on the relative mer-
its of Zoom, Moodle and virtual class-
rooms. Some teachers had been trained to
use such technology, but many have faced a
steep learning curve. Carla Crosato, a
teacher in Treviso, in northern Italy, has
been uploading videos in which she ex-
plains the novels of Italo Svevo and Luigi
Pirandello to her students. “I never thought
I’d become a YouTuber at 56,” she says.
Even if teachers manage to broadcast
their lessons, students may struggle to join
them. Not everyone can get online (see
chart). In America 7m school-age children
cannot access the internet at home. Lin
Kengying of 21st Century Education Re-search Institute, a think-tank in China,
says that the closure of schools since the
Lunar new year holiday, which began at the
end of January, has led his organisation to
reconsider the potential of e-learning. “It
hasn’t been smooth,” he says, citing pro-
blems such as internet access, scheduling
classes, teachers unfamiliar with online
tuition, and subjects such as physical edu-
cation being “awkward” to teach remotely.
In China teachers have to submit lesson
plans for review by censors, which has led
to delays. Students have been spamming
the main online teaching app with one-star
reviews in an effort to get it removed from
the app store. And Xue Hua, a mother of
two in Jiangxi province, has been printing
out all the learning materials for her 16-
year-old son, Guo Guo, because she worries
about too much screen-time.
Even done properly, online learning is a
poor substitute for the kind that happens
in a classroom. On average, students fare
worse working online, especially those
with less strong academic backgrounds,
says Susanna Loeb of Brown University.
Online courses can be an asset when stu-
dents cannot be in school, but she reckons
that they are “suboptimal for most” and ar-
gues that long periods of time spent away
from actual schools will probably lead to
children’s education suffering.
Online learning has clear potential.
Educational technology powered by artifi-
cial intelligence can help children in poor
countries with iffy schools—supposing
they have internet access. In 2018 research-
ers found that after four and a half months
of using an Indian app called Mindspark,
which tests basic language and maths
skills, children made more progress in
these areas than those in the control group.
But the success of such initiatives relies on
preparation and organisation, not sudden
scrambles to teach existing curriculums to
entire populations of students in the midst
of a pandemic. 7Safety-nets
Households with internet access, %Sources:WorldBank;
OECD;nationalstatistics *Includesmobileconnections100806040200
191715131109072005UnitedStatesJapan*ItalyBritainChinaItalyBritain*France
China S.Korea
JapanLocalisedschoolclosuresSources: UNESCO; Country-/state-wideschoolclosures
American Enterprise
Institute *From March 20thWe still need an education
To March 18th 2020