Page 391 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

learning loss is associated with poor school attendance, a higher dropout rate,

and increased social violence such as child abuse, early pregnancy, child
labour, and nutritional deficiencies (Bakrania et al., 2020).

2. Methodology
Search and Review Strategy

The preliminary study was conducted using articles that were written in
English and published between January 1, 2022, and August 31, 2022. General

education, i.e. primary and secondary education were considered, and

university education was ignored. For the purpose of facilitating a
comprehensive and interdisciplinary search, the following electronic

databases were accessed: Google Scholar, the Education Resources
Information Center, and the Cochrane Library.

The search was conducted using the keywords: “School Closure”, “Learning

Loss”, and “Education Gap”. During the search analysis, a substantial volume
of publications were retrieved; nevertheless, the majority of these pertained to

anticipated or projected learning loss. Thereafter, article abstracts were
screened to narrow down the studies.

Studies that analysed student performance and reported the effect on learning

(either positive, negative, or insignificant) due to school closure were
included. After the vigorous inclusion and exclusion process, six articles were

selected (Table 1). The articles that did not have proper analyses or recorded

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