Unesco warns of “generational disaster”

The effects of the corona pandemic are having an increasingly serious impact on the education sector. According to Unesco, the number of primary school children with weaknesses in reading is increasing at an alarming rate.

In view of the school closings in the corona pandemic, the UN cultural organization Unesco has warned of a “generational catastrophe” in the education sector. In the past year, the number of elementary school students who do not have the reading skills appropriate for their age has risen by 20 percent, according to a report published by the UN organization on Friday. The number of second and third graders with difficulties in this area grew accordingly by 100 million to 584 million worldwide.

This “undermines the progress of the past two decades,” says the Unesco report. The organization called for “extraordinary efforts to remedy the situation”. “Education must be a priority in the measures to deal with the health crisis and in the reconstruction plans,” Unesco Director General Audrey Azoulay told the AFP news agency.

However, according to the report, 65 percent of low-income countries have cut their funding for education. In the countries with higher incomes, it is 35 percent. In particular, the students in Latin America, the Caribbean and in Central and South Asia are at risk of being left behind.

In around 30 countries, including Mexico, Hungary and Saudi Arabia, schools are completely closed due to the corona pandemic. Most countries have chosen to partially or partially open their schools.

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