UNICEF report reveals 463 million children globally unable to access online schooling

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic as most educational institutions have resorted to online schooling to continue classes, at least a third of the world’s school children, that is 463 million children globally were unable to access remote learning. As per the UNICEF report released on Thursday, August 27, agency’s Executive Director Henrietta Fore described it as a “global education emergency” because for millions across the globe, “there was no such thing as remote learning”. 

“For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “The sheer number of children whose education was completely disrupted for months on end is a global education emergency. The repercussions could be felt in economies and societies for decades to come.”  

Even though some nations have started reopening their schools and colleges after nearly eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, at the height of nationwide lockdowns, around 1.5 billion school children were severely impacted by school closures. The latest UNICEF report even outlined the limitations that came along with the online schooling and while the world was battling global health crisis, it exposed the deep inequalities in the access of education.

Read - WHO, UNICEF Urge African Countries To Reopen Schools Safely

UNICEF says situation is ‘far worse’

Although the numbers included in the report presented a picture that raised concerns, the UN agency warned that the situation is likely “far worse”. For some school children who have access to the required technology and tools, they were not able to indulge in online schools because of the daily pressure of doing chores or forced to work or a poor environment for learning and even lack of support in using the broadcast curriculum. 

The children in sub-Saharan Africa are the most affected, as per UNICEF, as half of all the students in the region cannot be communicated with remote learning. In East and Southern Africa, the minimum portion of students unable to access remote learning is 49 per cent, that equals to, 67 million. The regions at the bottom of the list were Latin America and the Caribbean where nine per cent of students were unable to adapt to the changes, that equals to 13 million. 

Read - Pitch Perfect's Barden Bellas Recreate Beyonce's 'Love On Top' For UNICEF; Watch Video

Source: UNICEF

Read - WHO And UNICEF Report Says Over 800 Million Children Aren’t Able To Wash Hands At School

Read - COVID-19: French PM Urges Citizens To 'not Let Guard Down' As Cases Continue To Rise