Evidence on the negative impacts of school closures on children’s learning, safety, health and wellbeing is overwhelming. The longer children are out of school, the greater their exposure to physical, emotional and sexual violence, exploitation and abuse. Prolonged time out of education increases children’s vulnerability to child labour.
UNICEF is calling for governments to prioritize children’s education and ensure schools are among the first institutions to reopen. However, with a resurgence of COVID-19 infection rates in many countries, governments are grappling with the uncertainties of whether keeping schools open during the pandemic is safe or not.
UNICEF promoted young people’s voices to help us call on governments to prioritize children’s education, reopen schools, keep them open, and take all possible measures to reopen safely.
Find out what they told us here on the education poll page.
