United Nations children’s agency UNICEF

Subject – IR

Context – UNICEF report calls for schools to reopen in pandemic-hit countries

Concept –

The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, has urged education authorities to reopen schools as soon as possible in countries where millions of students are still not allowed to return to classrooms 18 months into the pandemic.
Schools in around 17 countries remain fully closed, while those in 39 countries remain partially closed, according to a report released by UNICEF.
Among those “almost completely closed” are schools usually attended by nearly 77 million students in Bangladesh, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Panama and Kuwait.
Pupils from the six countries represent more than half of the 131 million students worldwide that have missed more than three-quarters of their in-person learning, said UNICEF.
The report said teachers should be prioritised for vaccines, after health workers and those most at risk, to protect them from community transmission.
Students may be safer at home, but the availability of computers, mobile phones and internet, and the uneven quality of education, are among challenges they continue to face.

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