Almost a year out of school, a burden for the future of Latin America

International News Service, 9 Nov (EFE)- Ninety-seven percent of Latin American children and adolescents are on the verge of completing almost a year without ever setting foot in school, and with virtual classes inaccessible to the most vulnerable, the region risks losing its future for decades, warns a UNICEF report released Monday.    

With almost eight months of extended breaks for 137 million children in Latin America (a time period four times longer than the global average), the UN agency warns of a possible "generational catastrophe" caused by the absence of classes due to the covid-19.   

"With each passing day of schools being closed, a generational catastrophe is unfolding, one that will lead to profound consequences for society as a whole," the report reiterates.  

One of the "profound" effects of the crisis is that almost 3 million children and adolescents are at risk of never returning to school. Given these figures, Latin America faces the challenge of preventing the potential of the new generations from being lost and inequality from deepening in the region, which has been devastated by the effects of Covid-19, with 11 million cases to date.  

Jamaican Wayne Young is worried about his seven children: “I think my kids them gonna drop back a lot,” he admits. “They have no internet. We have no smartphone. We have no laptop because we can’t afford it.” 

His testimony in the report highlights the digital divide in Jamaica, where internet penetration is only 55%, an injustice spreading throughout Latin America.  

In the region, only half of public school students have access to quality distance learning, while in public schools the figure rises to 75%, estimates UNICEF.  

Having the internet was "a privilege in Latin America" since "the higher income schools" were "the ones with connections," warns Efe Ruth Custide, education specialist at UNICEF's Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Custide adds that it is not just about the internet, but also about having a computer to access classes.  

That is why she regrets that only "18% of children in the lowest income quintiles" have access to any device, while in the highest quintiles "that figure is 80%".  

"With better income parents, with a higher level of education, children will perform better because they will have more support. But in the most vulnerable groups where the parents do not have such a high level of education, nor connectivity, nor resources, this is even more complicated", the specialist argues.  

Inequality is most acute in vulnerable groups with children with disabilities, indigenous migrants or in rural areas where distance education does not reach, according to UNICEF. In rural Bolivia, for example, only 18% have a computer and 3% have a permanent internet connection.  

UNICEF warns that the percentage of children and adolescents who receive no education, whether face-to-face or remote, has shot up from 4% to 18% in recent months.  

What impact can missing school for a year have on a child? For Custide, so much time causes "very serious" long-term effects.   

"If there is no real levelling process, these children are going to have a void for their whole lives," she emphasises. And that loss will end up being reflected in "worse wages", as the World Bank has already warned.  

According to the multilateral organisation, each child in primary and secondary education in Latin America and the Caribbean could lose between US$242 and US$835 per year from his or her salary, and up to US$15,000 over the course of a child's working life.  

That translates into a loss of up to $1.2 trillion in revenue for the region's governments over the life cycle of this generation of students.  

Other consequences will emerge throughout their education, with lower learning and a greater likelihood of dropping out of the classroom altogether.   

For example, UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimate an increase in secondary school students who will fall below the minimum level of reading proficiency.  The lower level of basic skills is compounded by barriers to making friends and learning social skills.  

"We are very concerned about the lack of psychosocial support provided by the schools, because if we adults are suffering from it, imagine what it means for a child or a teenager to be locked up at home for eight months and glued to a screen," says Custide.  

Above all, because for the "youngest pre-schoolers" their main learning now is "their social part" since it is precisely at "5 or 8 years old that the foundations of their social development are laid".   

The closure of schools not only postpones education for some families, but also means the loss of "an enormous amount of services, such as health, psychosocial support and protection" for children, she adds.  

At least 80 million children and adolescents in Latin America have lost school meals and are at risk of developing nutritional deficiencies.  

"By not having access to that food, parents also lose motivation to send their children to school," where they sometimes receive their only nutritious meal of the day.  

Children and adolescents are also more unprotected against domestic violence. The specialist explains that "many children will be engaged in domestic work and that worries us a lot, also in the case of girls it can be even more serious, with girls engaged in domestic chores, taking care of their little younger siblings..."  

While many schools in Africa, Asia and Europe are gradually reopening, in 18 of the 36 countries and territories in the region, classroom doors remain closed.  

In the face of the massive suspension of education services, UNICEF has provided support by helping 42 million students in the region receive distance and home learning through radio, television, Internet and other platforms.  

For Custide, the priority must be "to reopen the schools, with maximum security" because "the best place to guarantee education is the school". This requires investment, as four out of ten schools in the region currently lack basic hand-washing facilities.  

The expert insists that "no universal recipe can be given". She gives the example of rural areas, "where there is a school with 20 children, where there are no cases of transmission, there is no need for that school to be closed".