Coronavirus pandemic impacts education for Afghan children

Covid-19 has affected the education system in Afghanistan, says a report by NGO, Save the Children.

The kids from poor and underprivileged backgrounds have missed out on education and go through a high risk of violence at home.

Eight out of 10 children said they have learned something or nothing. The report surveyed 351 children and their caregivers as well as 129 respondents from the general public via social media, as part of a wider global survey on the impact of Covid-19 on children's lives.

Meanwhile three in every 10 (30 per cent) children reported some violence at home during the lockdowns. It revealed that two-thirds (64 per cent) of the children surveyed had no contact with teachers at all during lockdown while less than one in every 20 children (4.6 per cent) had at least one daily check-in with a teacher.

The report also said that one in three households in rural areas had difficulties accessing learning materials as compared to one in five households in urban areas.

It said that while some progress has been made in recent years in Afghanistan, such as the passing of a new law last year which guarantees children equal access to education, many challenges remain.

Save the Children's research showed that across six Afghan provinces, just 28.6 per cent of children can access distance learning programmes through TV, 13.8 per cent through radio programming, and 0.2 per cent through the internet.

Of the 3.7 million children that were already out-of-school, 60 per cent are girls, it added. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the girls is higher..