Protus Onyango
United Nations agencies and World Bank have issued new guidelines on the
safe reopening of
schools after they were closed at the onset of
coronavirus.
UNESCO, UNICEF, World Food Programme (WFP) and World Bank yesterday
said school closures have affected nearly 1.3 billion students
worldwide.
In a statement released yesterday, the agencies warned that the
widespread closures of educational facilities in response to the
Covid-19 pandemic have presented an unprecedented risk to children’s
education and wellbeing.
“Rising inequality, poor health outcomes, violence, child labour and
child marriage are just some of the long-term threats for children who
miss out on school,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director.
The new guidelines indicate that while there is not yet enough evidence
to measure the impact of school closures on disease transmission rates,
the adverse effects of school closures on children’s safety and learning
are well documented.
“Gains made in increasing access to children’s education in recent
decades risk being lost and, in the worse cases, reversed completely,”
she said.
David Beasley, WFP Executive Director, said in the poorest countries,
children often rely on schools for their only meal of the day.
The agencies advised the best interests of children and overall public
health considerations – based on an assessment of the associated
benefits and risks to education, public health and socio-economic
factors – must be central to national and local authorities’ decisions
to reopen schools.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said many students are falling
behind in their learning journey because of prolonged school closures.
Jaime Saavedra, World Bank global director for education, said once
schools begin to reopen, priority should be reintegrating students into
school settings safely and in ways that allow learning to pick up again,
especially for those who suffered the biggest learning losses.
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