Irish Study: Covid-19 Widened Education Gap for 4,000 Children in 200 Schools

A landmark longitudinal study, «Children’s School Lives», surveyed 4,000 children across almost 200 Irish primary schools from 2019 to 2023. Undertaken by UCD’s school of education and funded by the NCCA, the study unexpectedly provided extensive data on Covid-19’s impact on children’s educational outcomes, revealing a decline in reading and mathematics proficiency and a widening achievement gap between disadvantaged and affluent children.

The research highlighted that children in Deis schools (serving poorer socio-economic areas), immigrant families, and Traveller children scored significantly lower in reading and maths, a gap that worsened post-Covid. This was attributed to rising inequalities in access to digital technologies and parental support for home learning during lockdowns. Principals in Deis schools reported increased stress, burnout, and lower self-efficacy post-pandemic, with those feeling emotionally drained almost doubling from 36% to 60%.

Órla Hanahoe, principal at Cnoc Mhuire SNS, a Deis Plus school in Tallaght, Dublin 24, described how Covid-19 disproportionately affected her students, many from challenging backgrounds with exposure to trauma. Lack of devices, overcrowded homes, and parents’ limited educational attainment made remote learning difficult. The study’s findings have informed the new primary school curriculum, launched last year, to be more responsive to children’s experiences, and an enhanced Deis Plus scheme was introduced for about 120 schools.