Covid-19 has affected more than 30 crore students in India: UNESCO

Hyderabad: Data released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) showed that education of over 30 crore students in India has been affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The report named ‘Global monitoring of school closures caused by Covid-19’ also found that 69.1 percent of the learners across the world have had to compromise on their education due to the pandemic.

In the case of India, 15.8 crore female students and 16.2 crore male students have been affected by the lockdown. Of them, 3.4 crore students belong to the post-secondary education category, while 13.3 crore students are pursuing secondary-level education. In the case of primary-level students, 7.5 crore learners and 1 crore pre-primary kids have stopped going to school due to the lockdown.

UNESCO also noted that 156 countries have declared nation-wide closure of educational institutions in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Majority of the countries in Africa, Asia and South American continents have announced country-wide closure of schools. In case of other countries like China, Australia, Russia and the United States of America, the school re-opening is dependent upon the localised status of Covid-19.

In China, school re-opening is progressive, with schools opening for students pursuing the last year of their secondary education. But in the larger regions, most schools remain closed. In the case of Australia, the country is implementing different policies such as “bringing forward school holidays, implementing student-free schools or closing schools in some regions.”

Turkmenistan, Belarus, Norway, Vietnam, Greenland, Iceland and Nicaragua are among the very few countries which have their schools open for students now.