On Wednesday, the Health Ministry reported 1,858 new coronavirus cases from Tuesday to Wednesday, bringing the total number of the infections to 378,752.

The Education Ministry on Tuesday announced plans for reopening of schools across Iran, which is the worst-hit country in the West Asia.

“Excluding regions with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, all schools will start education with in-person attendance in the new school year on September 5,” Iranian Education Minister Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei said.

He stressed that classes in high-risk regions will be held online.

Health Ministry’s spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari put the death toll from coronavirus in Iran at 21,797, saying the disease took the lives of 125 patients from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to IRNA.

Of the new cases detected since Wednesday, 1,136 patients have been admitted to the hospital, she added.

Among those undergoing treatment in medical centers at present, 3,693 coronavirus patients have critical health conditions because of more severe infection, Lari noted.

She said that at least 326,800 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection so far or have been discharged from hospitals.

Iran has been battling to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak since announcing its first cases on February 19.

Authorities have made wearing masks mandatory in enclosed spaces and reimposed restrictions lifted gradually since April.

While working on production of a vaccine for the disease, Iran is seeking to buy vaccines so far developed by other countries against the coronavirus.

On Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ordered the Health Ministry to make all the arrangements necessary for the purchase of vaccines developed by other countries, according to Tasnim News Agency.

The vaccines should be procured soon and undergo all the tests and trials inside Iran as the country is facing the second wave of the COVID-19 crisis, he added.

Russia said on August 11 that it had developed the world’s first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against COVID-19 and was in the final stage of human trials.

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In addition, about 770 million adults are illiterate, most of them women, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the UN General Assembly on the International Day of Education.

She said the situation is “alarming,” not only because of the millions who aren’t getting an education — and never did — but also “because of the crisis in the number of children, young people, and adults who are in education, but not learning.”

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the UN special envoy for education, has said he continues to be “shocked” that more than 400 million children leave school for good at age 11 or 12 and “800 million children are leaving the education system without any qualifications worth their name.”

The UN goal for 2030 is to “ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.”

At an event at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said: “not only do we need massive investment, but an overhaul of educational systems is necessary.”

To rethink education and prepare the coming generation to deal with major issues like the digital revolution and the climate emergency, Azoulay said UNESCO appointed a commission of independent experts last September led by Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde to produce a report in November 2021 on the Futures of Education.

Brown said one reason why the situation is “so grave” today is that there are 75 million children in crisis-affected countries who are unable to go to school, have their education disrupted, and don’t attain any educational standards, AP reported.

Yasmine Sherif, director of Education Can’t-Wait which is the first global fund dedicated to education in emergencies, told a news conference at the UN: “Just think what will happen with this generation, and with all of us one day, if these 75 million children don’t access a proper, decent quality and continued education,” she said.

The fund has received pledges of almost $590 million since it began three years ago and is helping youngsters in 30 conflict and crisis-affected countries from Syria and Afghanistan and Mali, Bangladesh and the Central African Republic, she said.

Brown, who chairs the fund’s high-level steering group, said it is crucial for all levels of education. He said only a fraction of refugees — 1-3 percent — go on to higher education. Compared, for example, with Syria where it was 20 percent before the conflict began in 2011.

General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande told the UN event that “there has been an increase in school enrollment rates worldwide, with more children going to, and staying in school longer.

 “While this is commendable,” he said, “it is unacceptable that 20 years into the 21st century about 258 million children and youth do not attend school, 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math and millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, and people with disabilities are out of school,” he said.

Muhammad-Bande called this “a blight” and urged governments to ensure access “to free and quality primary and secondary education, as well as affordable and inclusive vocational and technical education.”

Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed said: “This international day must be a call to action … so that quality education for all is no longer a goal for tomorrow, but a reality.”

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