Risk of “generational disaster” if schools do not reopen

Two UN agencies on Monday warned that the closure of schools affiliated with COVID-19, which still affects “156 million students in nineteen countries”, will not “continue” under the penalty of “generational disaster”.

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“Eighteen months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption of education for millions of children ((…) this situation will not continue. Schools must finally close and reopen”, UNICEF (Children), Henrietta Four and UNESCO (Education, Science, Culture ), The general directors of Audrey Azoulay appealed in a joint statement.

For these two authorities, the reopening of schools can not wait for the end of the epidemic or the vaccination of all students and staff and can be done “with complete security”, especially since schools are not “major. Spread the spaces”.

On the other hand, “it is impossible to avoid the inevitable impact that children and young people who do not attend school will experience. It can lead to loss of learning, depression, bullying and abuse, missing school meals and vaccinations or socialization, but the consequences are felt everywhere: in their educational outcomes, their social commitment and their physical and mental health, ”she emphasizes.

“The most affected are children with low-resource backgrounds, children with no access to distance learning tools, or children in critical stages of development”, add-on that they are “equally” parents “at huge risk.

“We urge policy makers and governments to prioritize the safe reopening of schools to prevent generations of disasters. Closing schools will only jeopardize our future in order to secure our future in an uncertain way,” they concluded.

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