Lusaka, 26^th July 2021: The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an extensive disruption in children and young people’s education prompted by several unplanned school closures. The world economic forum reports that about 1.6 billion children around the world were out of school at the peak of the global lockdowns. These school closures come at a very high social and economic cost and are likely to have profound consequences extending beyond education. The impact is particularly severe for girls and children from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds as some may never return to school even after schools reopen fully.