Oecd covid survey eag indd

partner countries (14 out of 35) and at tertiary level for 
about 60% of countries (18 out of 30). However, the 
arrangements for opening schools on a part-time basis 
varied from country to country. 
Of the 14 countries whose upper secondary 
general schools were only partially open in May 
2021, 4 of them (Costa Rica, France, Luxembourg 
and the Netherlands) only reduced the number of 
students per classroom, employing a combination of 
distance education strategies and in-person classes. 
In Luxembourg, for example, all schools were fully 
operational and all students attended class regularly 
except for those in Grades 4, 5 and 6 of secondary 
education (general and vocational), where a hybrid 
learning arrangement was deployed: half of the class 
attended in remote learning mode and the other half 
in the classroom. These groups alternated on a weekly 
or daily basis; it was left to the school’s discretion. 
Other countries adapted strategies based on regional 
infection rates. For example, in the 15 regions in France 
where COVID-19 infection rates were the highest 
between 3 May and 30 May, in-person instruction 
was delivered fully in the classroom for 6th and 7th 
graders, while a hybrid learning arrangement was 
deployed for 8th and 9th graders. 
The remaining ten countries applied stricter measures. 
Schools were “fully open” only for certain grades
(or age groups) and in certain areas/regions in 
Canada and Korea; in certain areas/regions and with 
a reduced number of students per classroom in Chile 
(with an attendance rate of about 25%), Colombia 
and Germany; and for certain grades (or age groups) 
with a reduced number of students per classroom in 
Poland. In Germany, for instance, specific regulations 
applied from 23 April based on 7-day incidences per 
100 000 inhabitants. Schools had to work in hybrid 
learning (one-half of the class at school, the other 
at home) if incidence rates were higher than 100. 
Moreover, after 3 days of an incidence of more than 
165 per 100 000 inhabitants, schools had to switch 
to distance learning. In Denmark and Latvia, only 
graduating classes in upper secondary and vocational 

---

10
© OECD 2021
The State of Global Education: 18 Months into the Pandemic
attended in person and only for some lectures.
Brazil and Lithuania were the only countries where 
upper secondary schools were “fully open” only in 
certain areas/regions, for certain grades (or age 
groups) and with a reduced number of students per 
classroom. 
Students in higher education were also particularly 
affected by the partial opening of institutions.
In the United States, for example, a national survey 
of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled 
between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020 in 
postsecondary institutions eligible to participate in 
federal financial aid programmes shows that, overall, 
87% of students experienced a disruption or change 
in their enrolment, with 84% having some or all of their 
courses switched to on line-only instruction. The study 
also shows that 34% of undergraduates received 
technology or technical services from their institution 
to aid in transitioning to online instruction, 29% of 
undergraduates lost a job or income as a result of 
the pandemic, and 70% of undergraduates agreed 
that their institution provided helpful communication 
on changes to accessing coursework due to the 
pandemic (Cameron et al., 2021
[2]
). 
In some cases, special measures were also proposed 
for pupils enrolled in vocational education. In Latvia, 
students enrolled in vocational education and training 
(VET) and higher education programmes requiring 
practical work were allowed to attend classes on site, 
in small groups, and with the necessary precautions 
and compulsory masks. In Poland, headmasters of 
schools providing vocational education could organise 
practical classes on certain days of the week, not 
exceeding 16 hours per week, in groups and allowing 
for social distancing (OECD, 2021
[3]
).
The number of instruction days schools were closed varied across 
countries, but also between 2020 and 2021
Between January 2020 and May 2021, schools 
closed for at least one level of education in all 
countries that reported data to the Special Survey 
on COVID-19. Generally, the number of instruction 
days that schools were fully closed (excluding school 
holidays, public holidays and weekends) increased 
with the level of education (Figure 2). On average 
across the 30 countries with comparable data for all 
levels of education, pre-primary schools were fully 
closed for an average of 55 days between 1 January 
2020 and 20 May 2021 while primary schools 
closed for 78 days, lower secondary schools for
92 days and upper secondary schools for 101 days 
(Table A1 in Annex). The number of days of school 
closure represents roughly 28% of total instruction days 
over a typical academic year at pre-primary and more 
than 56% at upper secondary level on average across 
OECD countries.
However, these figures mask substantial differences 
across countries and within them across levels of 
education. For instance, in Sweden, all primary and 
most lower secondary schools remained open in 
2020 and 2021, while upper secondary schools were 
fully closed for about 80 days over the same period. 
Schools were closed at least 40 days more at upper 
secondary than at primary level in the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, 
Mexico and Poland. In contrast, Ireland, Korea and 
Luxembourg closed their primary schools longer than 
their upper secondary schools. Upper secondary 
general schools were fully closed for less than 50 days 
in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway and Spain, and for more than 
150 days in Colombia, the Czech Republic,
Costa Rica, Hungary, Latvia, Mexico, Poland and 
Turkey. Only six countries, namely Belgium, Chile, 
Colombia, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Spain, 
have not differentiated their school closure strategies 
according to educational levels. 
After a quasi-systematic closure of schools in most 
countries in mid-March 2020, approaches diverged 
significantly between September and December 
2020. In some countries, schools remained closed 
as viral transmission increased, while others kept 
them open (OECD, 2021
[4]
). Similar strategies were 
observed over 2021, regardless of the state of viral 
transmission across countries. Thus, nine countries 
(Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Korea,
the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and 
Switzerland) did not fully close their upper secondary 
schools at all between January 2021 and 20 May 
2021, while Belgium and Luxembourg closed them 
for only five days. In the other 19 countries, the 
number of days of closure varies from 10 days in 
France and Sweden to 60 days or more in many 
Eastern European countries (the Czech Republic, 
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland), but also in 
Denmark, Germany and Mexico (Figure 3). The level 
of COVID-19 infection rates did not determine whether 
schools were closed in many countries. For example, 
Belgium, France, Spain and Switzerland did not fully 
close their upper secondary schools (or only for a few 
days) from 1 January 2021 to 20 May 2021 despite 
a high cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 

---

© OECD 2021 
11
The State of Global Education: 18 Months into the Pandemic
Upper secondary general education
Pre-primary education
Primary education
Lower secondary education
Number of days
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
225
250
275
300
M
ex
ic
o
Po
la
nd
C
os
ta
R
ic
a
H
un
ga
ry
C
ze
ch
R
ep
ub
lic
C
ol
om
bi
a¹
Tu
rk
ey
La
tv
ia
²
Lit
hu
an
ia
Sl
ov
en
ia
Is
ra
el
A
us
tri
a
O
EC
D
a
ve
ra
ge
C
hi
le
¹
Es
to
ni
a¹
Po
rtu
ga
l
En
gl
an
d 
(U
K)
D
en
m
ar
k²
G
er
m
an
y¹
³
,
Sw
ed
en
Ire
la
nd
Sw
itz
er
la
nd
Ko
re
a
Fi
nl
an
d
Fr
an
ce
Be
lg
iu
m
Sp
ai
n
N
et
he
rla
nd
s
N
or
w
ay
Lu
xe
m
bo
ur
g
N
ew
Z
ea
la
nd
¹
Figure 2•
Number of instruction days schools were fully closed in 2020 and 2021, by level of education