In a recent United Nations communications on the sheer scale of the impact of Covid-19 in South Asia, it has been reported that there have been an estimated 239,000 maternal and child deaths. The severe disruptions caused by the pandemic have also led to “sharp drops in the number of young children treated for severe acute malnutrition as well as in childhood immunizations”. Inequalities are deepening and the area, covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, it was also reported that 420 million children were out of school in this period. Worse still is that up to 4.5 million girls are likely never to return to school, and are at grave risk of suffering unwanted pregnancies due to a lack of information on sexual and reproductive health issues and due to poor nutrition and health there will be impaired growth and development in these countries. While all countries are suffering the impact of the Coronavirus, developing nations are suffering a greater impact, and education is losing its key role in society to bring development and economic growth. More needs to be done to reverse this trend.
