COVID-19 has caused the largest mass disruption of education in history affecting a generation with great costs to their futures. The World Bank estimates a loss of US10 trillion in earnings over the lifetime of this current generation of children if the global learning crisis is not addressed. UNICEF has reported hopeful signs with the acceleration of a positive, long-overdue trend— countries are developing and scaling-up alternative pathways to deliver education. They are also reporting more than 90 per cent of the world’s education ministries have now adopted some kind of remote learning, whether high tech (online), low tech (radio) or no tech (lesson packets).
As we observe World Children’s Day 2020, and recover from the pandemic, let us call on leaders to close the gaps in educational equality once and for all, and re-imagine how a generation of children and young people learn and gain skills.
World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day and is celebrated on November 20th each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare. In recognition of World Children’s Day we offer this link to “One Day, I Will”, a photo exhibit that documents the hopes and dreams of children aged between 6 and 18 years old trapped in crises of war, natural disasters and the pandemic.