India, Feb. 25 -- Cuts canlast for a long time as the pandemic continues to cause economic losses and make fiscal positions worse, warns report

Two-thirds of low- and lower-middle-income countries cut public education budgets since the onset of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a recent United Nations report flagged.

Only one-third of upper-middle and high-income countries reduced their budgets, it added.

It warned that the cuts could last for a long time as the pandemic continues to cause economic losses and make fiscal positions worse.

It observed that the challenge was also about improving the effectiveness of funding. It found that despite increases in public education spending before the pandemic, the funding has...