At slightest 200 cardinal boys and girls, live in 31 countries which do not person the resources to woody with remote learning during any future exigency schoolhouse closures, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said successful a survey released connected Thursday. 

More than half, oregon 102 million, are students successful 14 countries which either afloat oregon partially closed their classrooms for astatine slightest fractional of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Remote Learning Readiness Index. 

Every kid indispensable beryllium capable to proceed learning during exigency schoolhouse closures.

Yet, astatine slightest 200 cardinal students unrecorded successful countries unprepared to present distant learning, leaving galore without immoderate signifier of education. https://t.co/3q3RqdVefD

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) October 28, 2021

“Even successful the midst of an ongoing emergency, we cognize determination volition beryllium different one, but we aren’t making capable advancement to guarantee the adjacent clip students are forced retired of the classroom, they person amended options,” said Henrietta Fore, the UNICEF Executive Director. 

Young minds near behind 

The study measures countries’ readiness to supply distant learning erstwhile in-person acquisition is disrupted, and covers astir 90 per cent of students successful debased and middle-income countries.   

It besides examines the limitations of distant learning and inequalities successful access, and warns that the concern is apt acold worse than disposable information shows. 

Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger and Togo, are among the countries with the astir important request for betterment wrong the acquisition sector. 

The study recovered pre-primary acquisition to beryllium the astir neglected level.  Many countries did not deploy a corresponding argumentation during the pandemic, truthful the youngest learners were near down during their astir captious years of development. 

Meanwhile, Argentina, Barbados, Jamaica, and the Philippines person the highest level of readiness. However, UNICEF cautioned that adjacent among nations with higher scores connected the index, disparities wrong their territories mean poorer children, oregon those successful agrarian areas, are acold much apt to miss retired during schoolhouse closures. 

Leveraging tech power 

While determination is nary replacement for in-person learning, the study said schools with “robust” distant learning systems, particularly integer learning, tin supply a grade of acquisition erstwhile emergencies unit classrooms to shutter.  These systems tin besides assistance students to drawback up erstwhile schools yet reopen.  

Although the past 19 months person been disruptive, the UNICEF main said they person fixed a glimpse of what is imaginable during and aft the pandemic.   

“Together with partners, we person been hard astatine enactment to leverage the powerfulness of exertion and to supply learning opportunities for children and young radical everywhere,” she added. 

Through the Reimagine Education initiative, UNICEF and partners are striving to springiness children and young radical adjacent entree to prime integer learning, with a extremity of reaching 3.5 cardinal learners by 2030.