Pandemic school closures create a lost generation of learners

A typical day can bring in just over US$2. But work also provides a refuge. Aita said she felt more fortunate than some friends who "got pregnancies at home." Photos: AP

Dressed in his school uniform, Mathias Okwako jumped into the mud and started his daily search for gold, a commodity that may be closer to his grasp than another precious asset: an education.

His rural school in Uganda sits idle just across the road from the swamp where he and scores of children now work as informal miners. Weeds grow in some classrooms, where window frames have been looted for firewood. Another school nearby is renting out rooms to tenants.