After decades of impressive growth, for the first time, Southeast Asia is experiencing a drop in measured human development. The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will likely take months to reveal itself and years to put right. Yet, a legacy of mobilising under constraints is leading Southeast Asia’s pandemic response.During the first two months of COVID-19 lockdown, the once bustling streets of Bangkok were unusually quiet.

Yesterday, The ASEAN Post published an article about the disproportionate impacts that the pandemic has inflicted on the employment prospects of young people. The coronavirus crisis has indeed severely disrupted livelihoods, businesses and the economy in general. Every sector, organisation and institution has felt the pinch from the pandemic. For the youth, education and training are crucial in enhancing their employability.

The United Nations (UN) warned Tuesday that the coronavirus crisis could have a severe and lasting impact on the life prospects of young adults without swift remedial action.The UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) said the career prospects of people aged 18 to 29 were taking a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, while students faced a "gloomy outlook" for its effects on their education.The ILO report entitled "Youth and COVID-19: impacts on jobs, education, rights and

“The beautiful thing about learning,” the great blues guitarist B.B. King once wrote, “is that no one can take it away from you.” Born and raised in poverty, King understood the value of education as a force for change. If only political leaders responding to the COVID-19 pandemic had an ounce of his insight. COVID-19 is now mutating into a global education emergency.

According to the World Bank’s latest economic update on Cambodia, the country’s economy this year will contract by -1 and -2.9 percent. This is a worrying sign given the kingdom’s reliance on tourism, manufacturing exports, agriculture and construction.

The oft-repeated idea that COVID-19 is “the great equalizer” is a myth. There is no equality of suffering or equality of sacrifice during a pandemic that is disproportionately hurting the poorest and most vulnerable.And while the health emergency has disproportionately harmed the elderly poor, the unprecedented education crisis caused by the pandemic is now hurting the poorest children hardest and creating a generation that will lose out on learning.

S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information will co-chair a new ministerial committee for digital transformation with Chan Chun Sing, the Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools around the world are using education technology (edtech) such as online learning, radio, and television among others to support access to remote learning during virus lockdowns.Edtech is fast growing in Southeast Asia thanks to its learner-centric platform which breaks down geographical barriers such as access to infrastructure like schools and even transport.Digital tools such as apps, eBooks, websites, quizzes, streaming media, online t

The coronavirus crisis has caused millions to lose their jobs and sources of income. Reports of shuttered businesses and a global recession have headlined the news since the virus first appeared in Wuhan, China. The World Bank has predicted that 24 million fewer people will escape poverty in Southeast Asia this year as a result of the pandemic.

Nearly 260 million children had no access to schooling in 2018, a United Nations agency said in a report Tuesday that blamed poverty and discrimination for educational inequalities that are being exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak.Children from poorer communities as well as girls, the disabled, immigrants and ethnic minorities were at a distinct educational disadvantage in many countries, the UN's Paris-based education body UNESCO said.In 2018, "258 million children and youth w