According to Save the Children, conflicts, hunger crises and climate change are affecting the educational opportunities of millions of children.
In Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and Mali alone, a total of 49 million girls and boys are at extreme risk of not receiving an appropriate education, the aid organization said on Tuesday in Berlin when a study was published.
It is estimated that around 78 million children worldwide are prevented from attending school due to various crises.
For the report, “Save the Children” claims to have examined the education systems in 182 countries.
The susceptibility and willingness to deal with various dangers that endanger children's right to education were examined.
Students in Africa particularly at risk
Above all, the global hunger crisis and conflicts, rising food prices and extreme weather have a strong impact on the education systems of many countries, the aid organization explained.
With Sudan, Somalia, Mali, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, Eritrea and Djibouti, seven of the ten most vulnerable countries are in Africa.
Educational opportunities are also severely restricted in Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.
In Somalia, for example, the children interviewed by the organization no longer attend classes because they lack the energy to go to school because of the hunger crisis.
In Afghanistan, since the Taliban took power, educational opportunities have deteriorated, especially for girls, according to the study.
In contrast, the situation in Colombia has improved.
consequences of the pandemic
Save the Children's director of education, Hollie Warren, also called the coronavirus pandemic "one of the most momentous disasters to affect children's education in living memory."
The consequences would be felt the most by children and young people, "who are already most severely affected by conflicts, climate catastrophes, hunger crises and poverty".
In many countries, schools were closed for months to contain the pandemic.