Today the crisis gives us an opportunity. The crisis has highlighted the deep transformation that education systems need. Because as an Argentine teacher said "we have to start from scratch" teachers, parents, students, and we all must collaborate to keep schools open even in periods like this: not the physical buildings, but the educational project. And for that we need something more than language, mathematics and science. What happens now will surely redefine a new world

Behavior theory tells us that it takes time to change habits and patterns of behavior; if anything has had COVID-19, it is the ability to radically change our basic behaviors overnight. Clearly, there has been a shock and it is possible that some of the transformations that were necessary to make the leap to a new reality are now happening in the short term and without planning.

While it is true that no one was prepared for such a disruption, some countries were more so than others, probably in part because they had been through similar circumstances before. While in Korea or China, for example, school closures have not stopped learning, in other systems they have, particularly affecting the most vulnerable students and thus widening existing gaps. We know that inequality is

widespread and increases with age and schooling, and manifests itself in the basic skills, social skills, motivation and educational and professional aspirations of young people.

What can COVID-19 school disruption represent in terms of learning? Schools, education and training centers, and universities have an equalizing effect and have the potential to help correct some of the effect that family background has on the academic and employment opportunities and paths of children and young people. This equalizing effect disappears when the school as a workspace disappears and learning passes to the family environment, because it becomes dependent on the resources of that environment. The closest thing to estimating possible learning losses is the existing evidence on what students lose during the summer. Meta-analyses and recent studies confirm that significant losses are observed during the holidays and that they are higher in mathematics than in reading, and higher for lower-income students.

In other words, in the current context, the most vulnerable students who have been left without access to educational services are losing the learning they have gained and are not learning new content, while those from more favorable environments continue to learn, strengthening what they have already gained.

Why are #skills21 so important right now in the context of COVID-19? Because they help not only to better navigate the crisis, but to prepare for when the health emergency is over: they help to continue learning and protect our minds from the traumas associated with an adverse environment. A child who has been exposed to stress situations has much more difficulty in acquiring skills and learning, so it is essential to deal with what is happening in his "operating system" and take care of it. The #skills21 or transversal are skills for life, widely transferable in different areas, and not specific to a job, sector task, discipline and occupation. Twenty years ago, Heckman reminded us of the importance of these non-cognitive skills and motivation for the success of young people, and why educational programs should intervene from an early age and include mentoring and motivational components for adolescents.

Confinement has effects on physical and mental health. Children who have been exposed to traumatic situations are at greater risk of developing mental illness, delayed cognitive development, and addiction and other risky behaviors. Children and young people are especially affected by their environment and, when they combine multiple adverse factors, including traumas that affect the community such as a pandemic, the risk of post-traumatic stress and other disorders related to the cluster of adversities around them increases. Today the crisis gives us an opportunity. The crisis has highlighted the deep transformation that education systems need. Because as an Argentine teacher said "we have to start from scratch" teachers, parents, students, and we all must collaborate to keep schools open even in periods like this: not the physical buildings, but the educational project. And for that we need something more than language, mathematics and science. What happens now will surely redefine a new world.