More Than 50% Of Southern And Eastern Africa Children Do Not Have Access To E-Learning.

This caution comes after a report showed that 49% of children in East and Southern Africa are unable to access remote education as they stay home.

This is higher as compared to 38% in South Asia and 34% in East Europe and Central Asia.

A UNICEF report stated that about 1.5 billion children have been affected by school closures as part of measures put in place by governments to prevent the spread of the disease.

In a statement, UNICEF’s Executive Director Henrietta said “For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning.”

“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.”

The report which examined 100 countries, looked at children’s ability to access remote learning through television and radio broadcasts or online classes.

The report found that students in Africa were the most impacted, with almost half unable to access remote education, compared to 38% in South Asia and 34% in eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Latin America and the Caribbean had the lowest number of children affected, with 9% of students unable to access learning at home, said the report.

The report also found that most of the affected children lived in rural areas, in poor households with no access to the internet, to electricity, or to the educational television and radio broadcasts that many nations ran.

UNICEF said that the situation was likely far worse than the report’s findings.

Explaining that even when children have access to technology and tools at home, they may not be able to learn due to factors such as pressure to do chores, being forced to work, or living in a poor environment for learning such as crowded, noisy accommodation.

Most schools in Africa are closed. A World Health Organization (WHO) survey of 39 countries in sub-Saharan Africa found schools were fully open in only six. Some African countries including Kenya have cancelled the entire school year, with plans to resume classes in January 2021.

But UNICEF and the WHO are entreating African governments to rather promote the safe reopening of schools, while taking measures to limit the spread of the virus.

WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, in a statement said “We must not be blind-sided by our efforts to contain COVID-19 and end up with a lost generation. Just as countries are opening businesses safely, we can reopen schools. This decision must be guided by a thorough risk analysis to ensure the safety of children, teachers, and parents and with key measures like physical distancing put in place.”

UNICEF is of the view that when it is not possible to reopen, governments should plan to incorporate compensatory learning – especially for marginalized students – when classes resume.