UN team in India supporting authorities to safely reopen schools, continue remote education: UN spokesperson

The UN team in India has been supporting authorities to safely reopen schools, and in some areas to continue remote education amid the pandemic, with a focus on reaching children in marginalised and disadvantaged communities, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said.Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters at the daily press briefing on Thursday that the United Nations Childrens Fund UNICEF has worked on e-learning and other programmes in 17 states in India, reaching nearly 60 million children, half of them girls.

The UN team in India has been supporting authorities to safely reopen schools, and in some areas to continue remote education amid the pandemic, with a focus on reaching children in marginalised and disadvantaged communities, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said.

Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters at the daily press briefing on Thursday that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has worked on e-learning and other programmes in 17 states in India, reaching nearly 60 million children, half of them girls. UNICEF also helped to train 400,000 people working in early childhood education.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has reached more than 22,000 teachers and half a million students on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools. The UN Refugee Agency helped more than 3,400 refugee children access education and provided nearly 3,000 education kits.

“In India, our team there has been supporting authorities to safely reopen schools, and in some areas to continue remote education, with a focus on reaching children in marginalised and disadvantaged communities,” Dujarric said.