Children in rural areas have always been at an educational disadvantage because of poor school facilities. Now a new report says those who have missed schooling during the Covid pandemic may face a lifetime of "lower educational outcomes and earnings".

A study of no-fee primary schools in Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape has revealed that pupils missed up to 76% of their basic education in 2020 because of school closures and "rotational learning" — when, to maintain social distancing in the classroom, each child attended school only once or twice a week...