SEA-PLM 2024 Main Regional Report: Children’s learning in 6 Southeast Asian countries

The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2024 is the second regional assessment of Grade 5 students’ learning in Southeast Asia, building on the first cycle conducted in 2019. SEA-PLM 2024 comes at a critical moment: education systems across the region are still recovering from the unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the broader global learning crisis.

When COVID-19 hit, schools in many Southeast Asian countries closed for long periods, and teaching shiftedoften abruptly to remote or hybrid modalities. This exposed and deepened existing inequalities, not all children had access to devices, connectivity, or a supportive learning environment at home. Many learners especially those from poorer, rural, or otherwise marginalized communities faced significant risks of learning loss, disengagement from school, and even permanent dropout. At the same time, teachers and schools were under pressure to adapt quickly, often with limited resources and support.

These disruptions occurred against the backdrop of a global learning crisis in which too many children were already not mastering foundational skills in reading and mathematics, even after several years of schooling. In Southeast Asia, the 2019 SEA-PLM results had already highlighted wide disparities in learning outcomes between and within countries, including gaps linked to socio-economic status, gender, and location. The pandemic threatened to widen these gaps further, particularly for the most vulnerable learners.

SEA-PLM 2024 was designed to help countries understand the extent and nature of these challenges. By collecting new, comparable data on children’s foundational learning—alongside information on home and school contexts. SEA-PLM 2024 provides timely evidence on how education systems have coped and how learners are progressing in the aftermath of COVID-19. The results aim to support governments, development partners, and education stakeholders in designing and implementing evidence-based reforms that can:

• Recover and accelerate learning after COVID-19;

• Reduce inequities that were exposed and deepened by the crisis; and

• Strengthen education systems to be more inclusive, resilient, and better aligned with SDG 4 and national education goals.

Through SEA-PLM 2024, Southeast Asian countries can work together to turn the hard lessons of the pandemic into an opportunity: to rebuild education systems that ensure every child acquires the foundational skills needed to thrive in an uncertain and rapidly changing world.

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Summary

Recommended Citation: UNICEF & SEAMEO. (2024). SEA-PLM 2024 Main Regional Report, Children's learning in 6 Southeast Asian countries. Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF & Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) – SEA-PLM Secretariat.