40 million children missed out on education this year due to COVID: UNICEF

“Childcare and early childhood education build a foundation upon which every aspect of children’s development relies. The pandemic is putting that foundation under serious threat,” he said.

The impact of COVID on work and family life notes that lockdowns have left many parents struggling to balance childcare and paid employment, with a disproportionate burden placed on women who, on average, spend more than three times longer on care and housework than men.

The closures have also exposed a deeper crisis for families of young children especially in low- and middle-income countries, many of whom were already unable to access social protection services.

Childcare is essential in providing children with integrated services, affection, protection, stimulation and nutrition and enables them to develop social, emotional and cognitive skills.

The statement revealed that before the COVID, unaffordable, poor-quality or inaccessible childcare and early childhood education facilities forced many parents to leave young children in unsafe and unstimulating environments at a critical point in their development, with more than 35 million children under the age of five globally sometimes left without adult supervision.

Out of 166 countries, less than half provide tuition-free pre-primary programmes of at least one year, dropping to just 15 per cent among low-income countries.

Many young children who remain at home do not get the play and early learning support they need for healthy development. In 54 low- and middle-income countries with recent data, around 40 per cent of children aged between 3 and 5 years old were not receiving social-emotional and cognitive stimulation from any adult in their household, the statement said.

Lack of childcare and early education options also leaves many parents, particularly mothers working in the informal sector, with no choice but to bring their young children to work.

More than 9 in 10 women in Africa and nearly 7 in 10 in Asia and the Pacific work in the informal sector and have limited to no access to any form of social protection.

Many parents become trapped in this unreliable, poorly paid employment, contributing to intergenerational cycles of poverty, the report says.

Access to affordable, quality childcare and early childhood education is critical for the development of families and socially cohesive societies. UNICEF advocates for accessible, affordable and quality childcare from birth to children’s entry into the first grade of school.

The research brief offers guidance on how governments and employers can improve their childcare and early childhood education policies including by enabling all children to access high-quality, age-appropriate, affordable and accessible childcare centres irrespective of family circumstances.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child and has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families.

Pertinently, the total number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed the 15.1 million mark, while the deaths have increased to over 621,800.

The Johns Hopkins University’s latest update suggests that a total number of cases stood at 15,166,401, while the fatalities rose to 621,890.

In India’s erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir, 453 fresh COVID cases, 101 from Jammu division and 352 from Kashmir, were reported a day ago, taking the overall toll to 15711.

Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.