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Priority to health and well-being today and to going back to school

The COVID-19 epidemic is a historic public health crisis, affecting nearly every country and community around the world.

By Umar AbbasiPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Priority to health and well-being today and to going back to school
Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash

To date, there are over 2.5 million confirmed cases and nearly 200,000 reported deaths. The devastating health effects of COVID-19 are rightly top of our minds and in the media, and are affecting the lives and livelihoods of people around the world.

But the pandemic also has invisible consequences. Strict containment measures, the closure of educational institutions and workplaces, and the loss of income suffered by many families have had and will continue to have serious negative effects on education, health and welfare. to be.

Unfortunately, the ever-growing socioeconomic gaps between students is one of the most tangible consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some of the most vulnerable groups most affected. More than 365 million children no longer benefit from school feeding programs, which are essential to keep them healthy and motivated to learn. Lack of access to school meals can exacerbate the loss of income generated by the crisis, potentially forcing families to resort to harmful coping mechanisms to meet their needs, including child labor or declining the number and quality of meals, when it is particularly important at this time to stay healthy and not weaken your immune system.

Learning at home can itself be a source of stress for families and students, due to the pressure of taking on new responsibilities, sometimes with limited time or resources. Many children suffer from anxiety because they do not have access to the Internet or other means necessary to benefit from distance learning. Older children, who have to care for younger children at home while parents or other educators work, are worried about losing several months of teaching. Parents / educators who do not have the same level of education, do not speak the country's main language of instruction, or whose children have special educational needs, face even greater difficulties.

The effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on mental health are considerable. In Thailand, a recent United Nations survey of 6,771 schoolchildren, in collaboration with the Thai Council for Children and Youth, found that more than 7 in 10 children and youth say the pandemic is affecting their mental health, causing stress, worry and anxiety. In addition, more than half of the students surveyed expressed concern about schoolwork, exams and their future studies and jobs, and 7% reported domestic violence.

Past experience also tells us that sexual and reproductive health vulnerabilities and risks increase when schools are closed for more than a few weeks, especially among the most disadvantaged groups, and among girls. As more families struggle financially, many slipping into poverty, and children find themselves on their own while parents work outside the home is pushing up early marriage rates and forced and early and unwanted pregnancies. There is also an increase in unplanned or coerced sex among adolescents and young people, with the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in particular, including transmission of HIV.

As the world faces an unprecedented challenge, there is now more recognition than ever of the crucial role schools play in ensuring the health and well-being of students, and indeed of the whole community. school, through school health and wellness programs. Education ministries around the world are innovating to preserve the health and well-being of students during school closings, aware that health and social issues have repercussions on education. They provide families with the help they badly need, in the form of educational tools for health awareness, psychological support, and sexual and reproductive health services.

Then, as part of the gradual reopening of schools, education ministries should determine how to maintain appropriate sanitary and hygiene standards to prevent transmission of COVID-19, to ensure that teachers and other staff school can work safely and efficiently. As health needs vary widely from country to country and even within countries, ministries of education must now “know the epidemic well”, identifying the most vulnerable categories and the consequences according to them. age and gender.

With the disruption of regular school feeding programs, governments must also find solutions to provide meals to families who need them most, making the task even more complex. These families must continue to receive enough to eat and meet all their nutritional needs, and receive assistance to cope with a possible loss of income during the crisis. Instead of meals, they receive take-home rations, food delivered to their homes, cash or vouchers.

For these families, the next step will be the return to school with the reopening of educational establishments. Nearly 1.3 billion students in 186 countries are still affected by school closures. Many of these students and their teachers suffer from physical or mental health problems as a result of this long period of confinement, and have sometimes lost family members during the pandemic.

It will not be a return to normal. Based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the World Food Program, UNESCO and UNICEF have published a Framework for the reopening of schools, which pays great attention to health and social measures. protection. Together, we are determined to help ministries of education and health in every country around the world sustain learning while schools reopen, while prioritizing health and well-being, which are more essential. than ever, in our school communities.

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