With necessity being the mother of invention, a great many schools all around the world were able to switch to using digital tools to continue imparting knowledge.

In the US, for example, the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported last month that more than 9 million children between the ages of 3 to 18 years old, did not have internet access at home.

According to the NCES also, some 11 million children in the same age group either lack access to a laptop or desktop computer for home learning or must share a single device with siblings.

There have been heartwarming stories of teachers and other school personnel adapting and innovating to reach children who have effectively become shut-ins.

There are those children, also, like the teenage son referred to in the ‘Women’s Chronicles’ column, who was already struggling in school, and owing to the setback dealt him by the pandemic has decided that he is not going back.