Education of 1 million children in quake-hit Nepal in risk: UNICEF

UNICEF said nearly 1 million children in Neapl will not be able to return to school, unless urgent action is taken to provide temporary learning spaces and repair damaged school buildings following the massive quake in the country.

According to UNICEF, almost 24,000 classrooms were damaged in the 7.9 magnitude quake at a time when the schools are due to reopen on 15 May. "Almost 1 million children who were enrolled in school before the earthquake could now find they have no school buildings to return to," said Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF's representative in Nepal in a press release. "Children affected by the earthquake need urgent life-saving assistance like clean water and shelter, but schools in emergencies even in a temporary setup - play a vital role too. They minimise disruption to children's education, protect them from exploitation and abuse, and provide them with messages to keep them safe and healthy. Going to school also allows children to regain a vital sense of routine that can help them come to terms with their experiences."

In the severely-affected districts of Gorkha, Sindhupalchok and Nuwakot, it is estimated that more than 90 percent of schools have been destroyed, while around 80 percent of school buildings have collapsed in Dhading.

In some areas, including Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, approximately nine in 10 surviving school buildings have been used as emergency shelters.

UNICEF has launched a 50 million U.S. dollars appeal to support its humanitarian response to the earthquake in Nepal over the next three months as part of a wider inter-agency flash appeal. Endi