Shafaq News / NGO Save the Children has declared an "unprecedented education emergency", with around 9.7 million students now at risk of not returning to school.

"Around 10 million children may never return to school -- this is an unprecedented education emergency and governments must urgently invest in learning," Save the Children chief executive Inger Ashing said.
" We are at risk of unparallelled budget cuts which will see existing inequality explode between the rich and the poor, and between boys and girls."

"the poors have suffered the greatest loss, with no access to distance learning -- or any kind of education -- for half an academic year," Ashing said.

In the same context; This British charity organization was based on UNESCO data that shows that the closures imposed in April to contain COVID-19 kept 1.6 billion students away from their schools and universities (about 90 percent of the total number of students in the world).

"For the first time in human history, an entire generation of children globally have had their education disrupted," said the NGO in a report entitled "Save Our Education."

"The economic consequences of the health crisis could impoverish an additional 90 to 117 million children, with access to school"; the report concluded.

"With the closure of schools, children are more exposed to risks at home and in the community, including child labour, child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and gender-based violence, as well as the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups in fragile and conflict-affected countries"; it said.

The report listed 12 countries whose children are at high risk of losing education: Niger, Mali, Chad, Liberia, Afghanistan, Guinea, Mauritania, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, and Ivory Coast.