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launches aiming to equip one million young persons with employability and resilience skills and help them find jobs when youth employment prospects look bleak. The impact of the pandemic on both education and employment has been dramatic. Students enrolled in training institutions and apprentices have been particularly affected by closures as they are dependent on practical training and hardware that is only available in training centres and workplaces.

As nearly 1.2 billion schoolchildren remain affected by school closures and as they grapple with the realities of remote learning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF warns inherent inequalities in access to tools and technology threaten to deepen the global learning crisis. "Providing a range of learning tools and accelerating access to the internet for every school and every child is critical,” said UNICEF Chief of Education Robert Jenkins.

Life during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult for parents and children alike. provides the latest information of what parents need to know to prepare for school reopening.

Bringing the classroom home in Pakistan

Mobile phone partners of have stepped up to provide free access to online educational content for students affected by COVID-19 induced school closures.

, , and the  have issued guidelines on the safe reopening of schools amidst ongoing closures affecting nearly 1.3 billion students worldwide. The  caution that the widespread closures of educational facilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic present an unprecedented risk to children’s education and wellbeing, particularly for the most marginalized children who rely on school for their education, health, safety and nutrition. The guidelines offer practical advice for national and local authorities on how to keep children safe when they return to school.

While schools are reopening in some corners of the world after pandemic-induced closures, the 51�Թ� and its partners are helping children continue their learning through all possible means, including the Internet, radio and television. Among those efforts, has issued a call to support learning and knowledge-sharing through  – materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or under an open license that permits no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others.

launches a rapid response distance learning plan, the “Education Cannot Wait” initiative for 118,000 Palestine refugee students in 169 schools due to COVID-19 closures.

An unprecedented coalition launches “Earth School,” providing free, high-quality educational content to help students, parents and teachers who are currently at home.

Half of the total number of learners – some 826 million students – are kept out of the classroom by the COVID-19 pandemic for not having access to a household computer. Even so, digitally based distance learning is used to ensure educational continuity. The , launched by , includes , in seeking to facilitate inclusive learning opportunities for children and youth during this period of sudden and unprecedented educational disruption.

partner, Ocean Agency, invites parents and children to experience the ocean and its astounding life forms from their homes. Remote diving is the new remote working.

Access to a quality education

As school closures impact more than 80% of the world’s student population, UNESCO convened an online meeting of education ministers, to share information on measures deployed to support teachers, parents and students in coping with home learning. They also pointed to emerging challenges that require global cooperation. UNESCO is launching a to support countries in scaling up their best distance learning practices and reaching children and youth who are most at risk.

Schools Resume as Displaced Return to Gunyoro in Eastern Equatoria

launches an education coalition to help countries deploy remote learning to minimize disruptions and maintain social contact with learners. As an immediate response to massive school closures, UNESCO established a COVID-19 task force to provide advice and technical assistance to governments working to provide education to students out of school. The Organization holds regular virtual meetings with education ministers from all over the world to assess priority needs.