UNICEF calls for schools to reopen in pandemic-hit nations

FILE PHOTO: Seventh grade student Ryza Delos Santos, 10, works on her modules at home as her cousin observes, after a session at the makeshift rickshaw distance learning center for the Aeta community in Porac, Pampanga, Philippines, October 12, 2020. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

MANILA (Reuters) - The United Nations children's agency UNICEF has urged education authorities to reopen schools as soon as possible in countries where millions of students are still not allowed to return to classrooms 18 months into the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schools in around 17 countries remain fully closed, while those in 39 countries remain partially closed, according to a report released by UNICEF on Thursday.