School desks are setup as part of a UNICEF 'Pandemic Classroom', with each seat representing one million children living in countries where schools have been entirely closed for almost a year, outside the UN Headquarters in New York on March 2, 2021. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

UNITED NATIONS - Schools for more than 168 million children worldwide have been completely closed for almost a full year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, about 214 million children around the world, or one in seven, have missed more than three-quarters of their in-person learning, according to new data released by UNICEF.

We cannot afford to move into year two of limited or even no in-school learning for these children. No effort should be spared to keep schools open, or prioritize them in reopening plans.

 Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director

Schools in 14 countries globally have remained largely closed from March 2020 to February 2021, two-thirds of which are in Latin America and the Caribbean, affecting nearly 98 million schoolchildren, according to the UN agency.

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"As we approach the one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are again reminded of the catastrophic education emergency worldwide lockdowns have created. With every day that goes by, children unable to access in-person schooling fall further and further behind, with the most marginalized paying the heaviest price," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

"We cannot afford to move into year two of limited or even no in-school learning for these children. No effort should be spared to keep schools open, or prioritize them in reopening plans," added Fore.

According to the latest data released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, more than 888 million children globally continue to face disruptions to their education because of full and partial school closures.

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On Tuesday, UNICEF unveiled "Pandemic Classroom," a model classroom made up of 168 empty desks, to call attention to the education emergency and raise governments' awareness to keep schools open.

Each of the 168 empty desks represents one million children living in countries where schools have been almost entirely closed.

"We do not want shuttered doors and closed buildings to obscure the fact that our children's futures are being put on indefinite pause," said Fore. "This installation is a message to governments: We must prioritize reopening schools, and we must prioritize reopening them better than they were before."