A report released by the UN last week shows that at least one third of children affected by the Covid-19 this year lack access to virtual learning.
The study estimates that over 463 million children worldwide lack the resources needed to pursue online learning even as most countries effected school closures.
The report is based on data collected from around 100 countries. The data included measuring the country’s public access to the internet, television and radio.
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According to the UN report, about 1.5 billion school going children had been affected by the Covid-19 school closures and lock-downs.
About 67 million children in Eastern and Southern Africa and 54 million in Western and Central Africa are unable to access virtual education. The same applies to 80 million children in the Pacific and East Asia.
Further estimates also reveal that 37 million children in the Middle East and North Africa, 147 million children in South Asia and 13 million children in Latin America and the Caribbean are unable to access online education.
“The sheer number of children whose education was completely disrupted for months on end is a global education emergency,” Henrietta Fore, executive director of the UN Children’s Fund, said in a statement.
Fore also said that the effects of the Covid-19 measures would stay with us for a long time. Some of the effects will take Societies and economies decades to shake off, she said.
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A UNICEF report also showed that the intensity of the effects varied geographically, with children in Africa and parts of Asia affected more than those in developed countries such as Europe.
The UNICEF recommends that governments prioritize the safety of children in the reopening of schools and act on it as continued closure would have lasting repercussions on countries.
‘Where reopening is impossible, governments should arrange for “compensatory learning for lost instructional time,” the UN report read.
President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed the Nation during the Covid-19 conference held at the KICC, where he said that the government was working to ensure the safety of children before they can announce a reopening date.
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