On Wednesday, Feb. 15, the Archdiocese of New York announced that at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, 12 of their Catholic Schools would be closed due to the financial instability that was further worsened by the pandemic.
Closing of 12 Catholic Schools in New York Archdiocese
A report from the Catholic News Agency stated that the following are the schools that will not reopen after the 2022-2023 school year.
Academy of St. Paul and St. Ann in Manhattan
Ascension School in Manhattan
Guardian Angel School in Manhattan
Holy Family School in the Bronx
Immaculate Conception School in Manhattan
Immaculate Conception School in the Bronx
Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs in Manhattan
Santa Maria School in the Bronx
St. Angela Merici School in the Bronx
St. Brendan School in the Bronx
St. Christopher School in Staten Island
St. Margaret Mary School in the Bronx
In addition to closing these schools, a total of four schools will be merged into two. Moreover, the archbishop has recently stated that three schools will no longer offer sixth through eighth grades after this school year. The statement released by the archdiocese also stated that all of the families affected by the closures would be welcomed into neighboring Catholic schools. They will provide financial assistance such as scholarships and financial aid.
On the other hand, according to the report of The Spirit, there are two Immaculate Conception Schools in the Brox, one of which is located on 151st Street and managed by Partnership Schools. This school is not affected by the news and will not close. However, the schools that will merge are St. Francis Xavier and St. Clare of Assisi in the Bronx as well as the St. Gabriel School and St. Margaret of Cortona in the Bronx.
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Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education
The disruption of society and economy brought on by the pandemic is increasing the pre-existing problem in education worldwide. It is affecting education in ways that have never been seen before. Even before COVID-19 occurred, the globe was going through a crisis of education. There were 258 million children in primary and secondary school who were not attending school, and the percentage of learning poverty in low- and middle-income countries was 53%. This means that more than half of all children who were ten years old were unable to read and understand a simple paragraph. The percentage was closer to 90 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.
Accordingly, the pandemic has made the learning issue much worse, and the effect that it will have on the human capital of the current generation of students is likely to be long-lasting. During the peak of the school closure crisis in April 2020, 94 percent of students, equivalent to 1.6 billion children, were not attending school anywhere in the world. Even now, approximately 700 million students are learning from the comfort of their homes, even though there is a great deal of unpredictability. Families and schools must navigate the options of hybrid and remote learning or no schooling. There is little indication that this issue will ever be resolved in the great majority of countries. Early research from several nations with high incomes has already revealed learning losses and rises in inequality.
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