Education

COVID-19 Update – The coronavirus pandemic has triggered an education crisis of unprecedented scale since the lockdowns began worldwide in March and April. By October, at least 600 million children will still not be returning to their classrooms, most of them in the developing world. (https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse) This means a reduction in learning outcomes and most probably, an increase in school drop outs, especially among girls. This is expected to translate into more than 7 million child marriages ( https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/COVID-19_impact_brief_for_UNFPA_24_April_2020_1.pdf). The Global Partnership for Education is responding to the challenge.

Lack of education is an indicator of poverty. It is also a key factor in the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Fortunately, conversely, no child born of a literate mother will grow up illiterate. Lack of education touches girls more than boys: girls are 50% more likely to never set foot in a classroom than boys Solutions are clear:

more classes and teachers
teacher training
latrines
a special attention to girls

The has a track record that can justify the international community’s optimism with sharp increases in enrollment, in particular for girls. The is being set up to take up a similar challenge in middle income countries where pockets of deep poverty persist. Unfortunately, the , in particular to , does not appear to be up to the challenge.