The devastating impact of school closure

News: Schools are becoming an easy target for politicians. A decision of closing the schools makes them caring and sensitive, but it impacts the lives of children.

Why the reasoning provided for the closure of schools is not correct?

Protect children: The main reason given for closing the school is to protect the children. According to data, the risk of COVID-19 for those under 25 years is much lower than the risk from traffic accidents. So, school closure to “protect children” is not a good idea.

Schools as super-spreaders: There is an assumption that school acts as a hotspot, which is proved wrong scientifically. According to a study in Spain data from over 1 million children of all ages in schools, found that the R-value (rate of virus spread) is less than one for all schoolchildren and is as low as 0.2 for pre-primary children. So, the practice of shutting Anganwadis and primary schools in India is unscientific, when every other place in India is crowded: banks, markets, buses, etc.

Online education: It is a poor replacement for physical classes, especially for children in primary and pre-primary classes. These students require human interactions with teachers and peers, to learn, as well as to connect socially and emotionally.

Increase of mental health problems in children: An increase in mental health issues has been noticed in UK children due to schools closure. American Academy of Pediatrics also called the mental health crisis among children a national emergency. In India, apart from mental health, other issues are also on the rise among children. As per the 2011 Census, India had an estimated 10.1 million children in child labor.

Vaccination: There is a myth that schools are safe only after children are vaccinated against COVID-19. This is not true, as schools were open in several other countries even before adults were vaccinated. It is visible that current COVID-19 vaccines (even boosters) do not prevent infection or transmission. Also, the question of emergency authorization of vaccines for children is not required, as there is no COVID-19 emergency for children.

What is the way forward?

Education is a constitutional right. By closing schools for a long period and providing a poor substitute with online education, children’s rights are being violated. There is a need to reopen the schools again so that children can gradually come to their normal routine.

Source: This post is based on the article “The devastating impact of school closure” published in The Hindu on 25th January 2022.