NY Times: More Than a Million Students Failed to Show Up for Classes Last Year
Voice of America
A New York Times report says as the coronavirus swept across the U.S., more than 1 million children, many of them in poor neighborhoods, failed to show up for public school classes, either online or in person. The steepest decline the report said was among kindergarten students.
The newspaper said more than 340,000 kindergarten children did not show up for instruction. “In the country’s poorest neighborhoods, tens of thousands of 6-year-olds will begin first grade having missed out on a traditional kindergarten experience.” The Times said. Kindergarten is where many youngsters receive their first exposure to numbers and letters and where they can be screened for disabilities and learning challenges. Analysis of the data, The Times said, shows that the pandemic has already set back “some of the most vulnerable students before they spent even one day in a classroom.”Young women and their coach Dioguinho bring it in for a team huddle at the start of a football training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Agatha strikes a ball during a football training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Relatives watch a football training session for young women run by the Bola de Ouro social program at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024.
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