The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an “unprecedented education emergency” with up to 9.7 million children affected by school closures at risk of never going back to class, Save the Children said yesterday.
The British charity cited UNESCO data showing that in April, 1.6 billion young people were shut out of schools and universities due to measures to contain COVID-19 — about 90 percent of the world’s entire student population.
“For the first time in human history, an entire generation of children globally have had their education disrupted,” it said in a report titled Save our Education.
The economic fallout of the pandemic could force an extra 90 million to 117 million children into poverty, with a knock-on effect on school admissions, it said.
With many young people required to work or girls forced into early marriage to support their families, this could see between 7 million and 9.7 million children dropping out of school permanently, it said.
At the same time, the charity said that pandemic response measures could leave a shortfall of US$77 billion in education budgets in low and middle-income countries by the end of next year.
“Around 10 million children may never return to school — this is an unprecedented education emergency and governments must urgently invest in learning,” Save the Children chief executive officer Inger Ashing said. “Instead we are at risk of unparallelled budget cuts which will see existing inequality explode between the rich and the poor, and between boys and girls.”
The charity urged governments and donors to invest more into a new global education plan to help children back into school when it is safe and until then support distance learning programs.
“We know the poorest, most marginalized children who were already the furthest behind have suffered the greatest loss, with no access to distance learning — or any kind of education — for half an academic year,” Ashing said.
Save the Children also urged commercial creditors to suspend debt repayments for low-income countries — a move it said could free up US$14 billion for education.
“If we allow this education crisis to unfold, the impact on children’s futures will be long-lasting,” Ashing said.
“The promise the world has made to ensure all children have access to a quality education by 2030 will be set back by years, “ she said, citing a UN goal.
The report listed 12 countries where children are most at risk of falling behind: Afghanistan, Chad, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal and Yemen.
Before the pandemic, an estimated 258 million children and adolescents were already missing out on school, the charity said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese