TY - JOUR T1 - COVID-19 Learning loss and recovery JF - Journal of Human Resources JO - J Hum Resour DO - 10.3368/jhr.0723-13025R2 SP - 0723-13025R2 AU - Singh, Abhijeet AU - Romero, Mauricio AU - Muralidharan, Karthik Y1 - 2024/04/08 UR - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2024/04/01/jhr.0723-13025R2.abstract N2 - We use a panel survey of ~ 19,000 primary-school-aged children in rural Tamil Nadu to study ‘learning loss’ after COVID-19-induced school closures, and the pace of recovery after schools reopened. Students tested in December 2021 (18 months after school closures) displayed learning deficits of ~0.73σ in math and 0.34σ in language compared to identically-aged students in the same villages in 2019. Two-thirds of this deficit was made up within 6 months after schools reopened. Further, while learning loss was regressive, recovery was progressive. A government-run after-school remediation program contributed ~24% of the cohort-level recovery, likely aiding the progressive recovery. ER -