7 of 24 countries in West and Central Africa have reopened schools since COVID-19. According to UNICEF, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Sierra Leone are the only countries that have managed to prepare schools to open safely. UNICEF is now calling on Ministers of Education and Finance of remaining countries to prioritise education and focus on making schools physically ready to open. With every day that goes by, millions of children and young people are unable to safely return to education and access learning opportunities vital to their development. And so, the longer schools remain closed, the higher the changes of children dropping out. Further, no school puts children at risk to early pregnancy, child marriage, and recruitment into local armed groups. Therefore schools are essential in steering the youth in the right direction. To ensure schools open soon, UNICEF is demanding schools adopt the appropriate measures and address the lack of access to soap and water for hand-washing in the region.