Appendix 3 | Applying the CRIA tool to COVID-19 pandemic policy and legislation relating to the closure of schools and early childhood education and care in Australia Article 28: Right to education • Barriers to achieving learning and academic goals: Mission Australia’s 2021 National Youth Survey, capturing the voices of Australian young people aged 15–19, revealed that 46.6% of respondents identified barriers to achieving their study or work goals.165 The barriers included mental health challenges, academic ability and concerns related to COVID-19.166 Other research describes increased anxiety and stress due to isolation, poor learning and educational outcomes as a result of families lacking space, experience, time and resources to support a home-learning environment.167 In UNICEF’s 2020 survey and consultation with children and young people, 67% of respondents said they were worried about their education being disrupted or held back.168 • Difficulty in transitioning between remote and in-person learning environments: Young people reported having struggled with the transition to remote learning, managing their workload and remaining motivated. Research revealed varied reasons for the difficult transition; the loss of a deep connection with their teachers, being unable to concentrate in a non-school environment, lack of support from school, feeling disengaged and unmotivated, and overwhelmed with the workload.169 68% of parents reported their children being disengaged from education impacted by limited attendance at school.170 74 | • Concerns with using digital technologies and exacerbation of the digital divide: The move to remote learning revealed the digital divide as a significant issue for some children and families. Access to digital technology is essential to ensuring that education and social supports are available for all children and their families, and to ensure children and young people remain connected to their community and culture.171 Children and young people reported connectivity issues, the cost of internet services, needing to share devices and data with others in their household, and in some cases the only device was a mobile phone.172 Research indicates that many children and young people, especially younger children do not have the technological ‘know-how’ to adequately learn from home using digital technologies.173 • Not having a learning environment at home: Children reported that they lacked a quiet space to work.174 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data records that 88% of Australian students reported having a quiet place to study at home, which is lower than the OECD average (91%).175 For students from lower socio-economic households, the percentage was 78%, which is lower than the OECD average (85%).176 Access to a quiet place to study may have deteriorated during the crisis with parents working from home, and siblings also remote learning.177