Avoid school closure whenever possible: UNICEF Executive Director

NEW DELHI: Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that nationwide school closures should be avoided whenever possible in light of the recent Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. Amid rising cases and uncertainty, several governments are weighing whether to keep schools open. However, Fore argued that when the COVID-19 community transmission becomes more widespread and strict public health measures are required, schools must be last to close and first to reopen.

According to Fore, a new round of widespread school closures would be catastrophic for students. She said that the evidence is clear on nationwide school closures. This time it could result in serious consequences in terms of limited resources for students, teachers and parents including lack of access to remote learning. She added that children are suffering as they are excluded from school environment, missing out on daily in-person interactions with friends, access to healthcare and too often, their only nutritious meal of the day. This generation of school children, according to UNICEF, could lose a total of $ 17 trillion in potential lifetime earnings.