The United Nations revealed that about 1.3 billion school -age children worldwide affected by school closures due to COVID-19 pandemic are unable to log on to internet at home.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said the massive number is a “digital canyon” that represents two-thirds of the world’s children, aged 3-17.

The report, titled “How Many Children and Youth Have Internet Access at Home?,” said the absence of internet connection in these homes prevents children from learning vital skills needed to compete in the modern economy.

The same report also found a lack of internet access among young people aged 15-24 – 759 million or 63 percent of the age group unconnected at home.

UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said the massive number “is more than a digital gap – it is a digital canyon.”

The lack of connectivity, she said, doesn’t just limit children and young people’s ability to connect online, it isolates them from the work and prevents them from competing in the modern economy.