No excuses, open school: UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for the school to be kept open in accordance with the rules of health. UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Four made the call in a statement on Friday. The statement called on governments around the world to keep schools open. Due to the complete or partial closure of schools, about 618 million children are currently affected in the world. We urge governments to take all necessary measures to ensure that the Amicron type of Kovid-19 does not interfere with children’s education as it spreads around the world.

UNICEF has also made some recommendations to avoid disruptions in education and to get children back on track. These are:* Teachers and school staff should be vaccinated immediately. Teachers and school workers should be given full support and priority in administering the vaccine to the first-line health workers and the high-risk population immediately after the vaccination of Covid-19.

• Keep the school open. At present, about 618 million children are affected due to complete or partial closure of schools. We know that Covid-19 risk mitigation measures help keep schools open. We also know that no child will be left behind if we can ensure investment in digital connectivity. We need to take urgent steps to get every child back to school. This includes providing comprehensive support to marginalized children in each community with specific targets. Such as taking extra classes to fill the teaching deficit in the classroom, providing mental health and nutrition support, protection, and other services.

• UNICEF supports the immunization of children once the privileged population is fully protected and adequate immunization is ensured. Do not make vaccination a prerequisite for going to school physically. Imposing the condition of physical schooling subject to receiving the Covid-19 vaccine puts children at risk of not being able to get an education and of growing discrimination. In line with the World Health Organization’s recommendations, UNICEF recommends that schools be kept open without vaccinating children and adolescents and that the COVID-19 control strategy ensures that children’s participation in learning and other aspects of social life is facilitated.

• In difficult situations, difficult decisions are always made. We acknowledge that the Kovid-19 epidemic poses an unprecedented challenge to education systems around the world. However, in this case, the risk is very high. Collectively we have to do everything possible to keep the children in school.

Earlier, UNICEF said in a statement that the coronavirus epidemic had disrupted the education of 38 million children in Bangladesh for more than a year and a half. According to a UNICEF survey, more than 635 million students worldwide have been affected by the epidemic, with schools completely or partially closed.

Schools were closed in Bangladesh for a long time due to the epidemic. After being closed for a year and a half, the educational institution reopened in September last year. The government has again announced the closure of schools from January 23 to February 8 due to the increase in the incidence of the corona.
Due to the closure of schools, its negative impact is increasing. School closures have affected the mental health of children as well as the loss of education, reduced their sources of regular nutrition, and increased their risk of bullying. Evidence suggests that Covid-19 has caused a great deal of anxiety and depression among children and young people; While some studies have shown that girls, adolescents, and people living in rural areas are more prone to these problems. More than 360 million children worldwide are deprived of school meals during school closures, the only reliable source of food and daily nutrition for some children.