Notwithstanding the progress made on education in previous years, according to Sustainable Development Goals Report in 2019, globally 617 million children lack basic reading and numeracy skills and one out of five children aged 6-17 are out of school.

Coronavirus has worsened this situation further revealing the structural gaps in education between developed and developing nations. While remote learning became the new normal, in Sub-Saharan Africa, where more than half of the schools do not have access to internet and computers, millions of children could not learn. UNICEF statistics revealed that in West Africa, a minimum 54 million children, majority of them in primary school could not be reached with digital and broadcast remote learning. Making it one of the regions with the highest concentration of students who were left behind.

These figures refer only to children who were attending school before the pandemic. This is notable because percentage of children who attend school in remote areas are low to begin with so if out of school children were counted, total unreached children will exceed 75%. Overall, three out of four live in rural communities.

To bridge this enormous gap, JHF and Discimus Foundation is initiating the renovation of rural community primary and secondary schools which are often dilapidated. In addition, the donation of digital devices and learning materials will enhance learning conditions & outcomes and encourage drop-outs return to school. Access to quality primary and secondary school education with a focus on the girl child will enable Sustainable Development Goal 4 to be achieved . When children can learn, they can earn a good living and break the cycle of poverty .