Extent and Effects of School Closures

The measures against the COVID-19 pandemic led to the (partial) closure of schools in most EU countries. International data on school closures show that Austria behaved similarly to most of the other countries studied in the initial phase of the pandemic. In the second phase between September 2020 and June 2021, however, schools were closed for a comparatively long time, while other countries got through the COVID-19 pandemic without further school closures. Most of the international literature on the effects of school closures shows that school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic particularly affected the younger schoolchildren as well as the group of schoolchildren from socio-economically disadvantaged households, so that a sustainable support focus should be placed on these groups. So far, only survey findings on the effects of school closures are available for Austria. Now it is important to supplement these findings with standardised achievement tests to further develop the package of support hours in a targeted and evidence-based manner.