Conflict, climate shocks force over 3.5mn kids out of school in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Feb 3 (IANS) More than 3.5 million children do not have access to school due to the impacts of conflict and climate shocks across Ethiopia, the Unicef said.

Unicef in its Ethiopia Education Cluster Quarterly Newsletter said that various man-made and natural shocks are continuing to have an impact in the East African country, reports Xinhua news agency.

“Based on the education cluster data from December 2022, more than 3.5 million children do not have access to school due to conflict and climate shocks across the country,” it said.

In the conflict-hit Tigray region, the sub-regional cluster reports indicate that out of an estimated 2.3 million school-aged children, some 1.7 million kids were denied the right to education for three academic years due to the conflict and Covid-19, with damage reported to have impacted 88 per cent of school infrastructure.

“There is an urgent need of rehabilitation and equipment of schools with furniture for children to have access to safe and protective learning environments,” it said.

–IANS

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