Save the Children warns of the risk of collapse of the educational system in Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and Mali

Oct. 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The education system in Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and Mali is at extreme risk of collapse, according to a Save the Children report that places these four countries at the bottom of a list that examines which areas of the world are most vulnerable to aspects that they range from armed conflicts to climate change, through the COVID-19 pandemic or the lack of access to minimal technology.

The study, ‘Build Forward Better 2022’, examines for the second consecutive year the situation of 182 countries and, although there are four instead of eight countries at maximum risk of educational catastrophe, there are still almost 49 million children who live without a minimum educational guarantee.

Afghanistan has moved from fourth to first place as a result of the rise of the Taliban to power, which has had an impact in particular on cuts for girls – they cannot attend secondary education, for example -. Following him are Sudan, Somalia and Mali, in that order, at the top of this black list.

Lebanon, for its part, has recorded one of the biggest setbacks, going from position 68 to 32, due to the economic and political crisis affecting the country. On the opposite side is Colombia, which has improved from 28 to 58 thanks in large part to better access to vaccines against COVID-19.

Save the Children has urged the different governments to prepare the systems against potential emergencies of all kinds, to the extent that greater resilience depends on guaranteeing the learning and well-being of minors in future crises. For countries at extreme risk, he has urged them to prioritize the teaching of basic concepts and education by learning levels instead of by age.

The director of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Action of the NGO, Vicente Raimundo, has stressed that the pandemic “has been one of the most disruptive and damaging catastrophes with respect to access to education.” “The pandemic generation of students will never forget the scars of these years,” he warned.

Looking to the future, he has called for making up for lost time and ground and for working on improvements: “We cannot allow any further setbacks”.