Kathmandu, Development 21
The United Nations child rights agency, Unicef, says the Covid-19 has worsened disparity between different groups of children in Nepal, thereby affecting their development and learning.
One out of five children between the ages of 2 and 4 years in Nepal is not developing on track amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the agency informs based on a recent survey.
“The Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) survey conducted in August showed that children from lower-income families, living in rural areas, with caregivers with no or low levels of education, and not attending early childhood education (ECE) programmes were at higher risk of being developmentally off track,” the agency in a statement says, “Even among children who attended the ECE programmes, those who attended the government ECE programmes were at higher risk of being developmentally off track compared to those who attended private programmes.”
The ECDI survey is a phone-based survey conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2,853 households with children to understand the development needs and status of young children aged 2 to 4 years.
The details of the study can be found here.
