NEW DELHI : Over 154 crore students are severely impacted by closure of educational institutions across the world amid the COVID-19 outbreak due to which girls will be the worst hit as it will lead to increased drop-out rates and further entrench gender gaps in education, UNESCO said.
Stefania Giannini, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Education, told PTI in an interview that shutting down of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic comes with a warning of "potential for increased drop-out rates which will disproportionately affect adolescent girls, further entrench gender gaps in education and lead to increased risk of sexual exploitation, early pregnancy and early and forced marriage". "Out of the total population of students enrolled