1.6 billion children globally affected by school closures

Te Whanganui-a-Tara - During the covid pandemic, 1.6 billion children globally have been affected by school closures.

Analysis suggests that increasing schools' digital connectivity and students' access to education, can increase a country's GDP and the duration of schooling for pupils.

Mapping and assessing the connectivity of schools worldwide is a much-needed step to stimulate the investment and infrastructure required to improve digital connectivity of schools worldwide.

Imagine connecting every school in the world to the internet. It is possible. It is also necessary if we want to keep the digital divide from becoming a digital chasm.

Now think about schools and the role they play in anchoring your community as well as the role they have played in your life.

Across the globe, they are places where children and adults come together to learn. Schools are also where entire communities gather for celebrations, in times of crisis, to vote or to access health and emergency services.

Around a quarter of the world’s countries continue to have schools fully or partially closed.

Unfortunately, many of the students who could not access the digital tools needed to sustain their learning are now at risk of being left further behind – even without covid compounding the divide.

Prior to the pandemic, a lack of access to the internet did not necessarily prevent children from receiving an education, but, since covid upended education systems across the globe, the link between school and personal connectivity to quality education is clearer than ever.

It has been reported a 10 percent increase in schools’ connectivity in a country can increase the effective number of schooling years per student on average. It also results in a GDP per capita increase of 1.1 percent.

The benefits of school connectivity do not stop at the individual student. Spill over effects from connected schools benefit whole communities. They serve as community focal points for lifelong learning and development, as well as enhancing the quality of digital literacy among the populations in developing world economies.

This directly benefits economic growth by stimulating entrepreneurship and commerce.

Based on a belief that connectivity can improve lives and help pioneer a sustainable future, Ericsson has partnered with UNICEF to help tackle the challenge of mapping schools. They are assessing their connectivity in 35 countries by the end of 2023.

Collaboration is crucial. Governments and the private sector need to create holistic strategies to overcome the barriers to school connectivity.

Digital inclusion is also about more than just access. Connectivity that is not only accessible but also affordable could be a game-changer for learning, particularly in remote areas and areas with lower availability of teachers.

Imagine putting the accumulated knowledge of the world at the fingertips of all children and adults in their own language.

The planet made a giant digital leap in 2020. All countries need to be ready for changes of that magnitude as they cannot continue to leave billions of young people behind.