About 78.2 M children dropped out of school entirely: UN

KATHMANDU: As per a recent study conducted by the United Nations, it has been revealed that multiple crises, including COVID-19 and poverty, have resulted in the disruption of the education of 222 million children and adolescents globally.

Resultant, approximately 78.2 million children have dropped out of school entirely.

The study has been done by Education Cannot Wait (ECW) – the UN’s education fund that caters to emergency cases and long-term predicaments.

Established in 2016, Education Cannot Wait has been catering to numerous children who faced education disruption. For instance, in 2016, about 75 million children had to face education disruption because of multiple crises.

Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) affirmed that the number has since risen to 222 million children in more than 40 countries.

“Conflicts are raging around the world…we know that, but they are also more and more protracted. But the growing record-high number of refugees and internally displaced as a result of conflicts and climate-induced disasters, have also contributed to this number, as have, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Sherif.

Most of the children living in crisis-prone areas like Mali, South Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) face permanent school drop-outs.

The number of children that have dropped out of school currently stands at about 78.2 million, with education experts indicating that chances of these children getting back to school are low. As a result, they get exposed to harmful acts and their income-earning capacity reduces.