Brazil (AFP) 02/09/2022 11:40
Brazilian children do not know how to read or write because of Corona
- The number of illiterate children rose to 2.4 million last year
- The closure of schools on a large scale, which negatively affected the poor, especially the poor
- Childhood illiteracy increases the risk of future school dropouts
rose number Brazilian children Those aged between six and seven who do not know how to read or write, increased by 66 percent during the outbreak of the virus Corona The cause of the Covid pandemic, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The report by Todos Bella Edocacao (All for Education) found that the number of illiterate children aged six and seven in Brazil rose from 1.4 million in 2019 to 2.4 million.
last year.
This figure represents 40.8 percent of children in that age group, in an indicator that raises concern in a country that has suffered the worst repercussions of Covid-19, with the closure of schools on a large scale, which negatively affected especially the poor.
This is the largest percentage of its kind since the start of recording figures related to illiteracy among children in Brazil in 2012.
The group described the high rate as “worrying”, considering that illiteracy in childhood increases the risk of dropping out of school in the future.
“We urgently need substantive policies to help children catch up,” said Gabriel Correa, the group’s education policy officer, adding that “the decline in illiteracy is unacceptable.”
