The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in a recent statement, said 60.2 million teachers and 1.37 billion students, representing more than 3 out of 4 children and youth worldwide are no longer in the classroom due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Organisation, nearly eighty percent of the world’s student population has been impacted globally due to the school closures.
In an effort to mitigate the of the pandemic on education, it said an ad hoc group consisting of education ministers from Nigeria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Egypt, France, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and Senegal has been set up to look into the matter.
Meanwhile, UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta H. Fore, has said that hundreds of millions of children will have to spend weeks and months away from their classrooms.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has upended children’s lives in unprecedented ways. Hundreds of millions of children will have to spend weeks and months away from their classrooms.
“We know from experience that the longer vulnerable children stay away from school, the less likely they are to return. It is critical to give them alternative ways to learn and rebuild a routine. If we act now, we can take the necessary steps to safeguard their future while protecting their present.”
She declared that the Global Partnership for Education has made an $8.8 million contribution to UNICEF to help children and young people in 87 developing countries access learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Governments in 87 eligible countries will start receiving education funds from 30 March to support education systems’ response to COVID-19. The funds will help scale up response planning, communication around safe school operations and sharing knowledge and building capacity,” she concluded.