Back to school : Preparing and managing the reopening of schools

Schools around the world slowly reopen with students observing strict social distancing rules. Earlier this year, the spread of the novel coronavirus forced more than 1.5 billion students into hastily implemented experiments in learning from home as schools around the world shut their doors. More than half a year into the pandemic, a global experiment is underway that could prove even messier: the return to the classroom. Some nations have reopened their schools already, citing evidence that their outbreaks are under control. Many have issued new safety requirements. At the epicenter of the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, schools reopened in early May, but children had to pass through temperature checks, wear masks, and enter and leave at specific times to avoid crowding.

Parenting tips from the World Health Organization

The World Health Organization issued new guidelines urging parents to limit the time children under five spend watching video screens or sitting in chairs and to encourage them to be more active and get better quality sleep. Children younger than a year old shouldn’t be exposed to any electronic screens, according to guidelines issued Wednesday by the World Health Organisation. The United Nations agency, issuing its first such guidelines, also recommended that children ages two to four have no more than one hour of “sedentary screen time” – including playing computer games or watching TV – per day. It emphasised that young kids need be physically active and get enough sleep, habits that go a long way in preventing obesity and other diseases later in life.

 “Achieving health for all means doing what is best for health right from the beginning of people’s lives,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “Early childhood is a period of rapid development and a time when family lifestyle patterns can be adapted to boost health gains.” The action comes amid growing research into the developmental effects of the widespread use of computers and mobile devices by children. One concern is that the mesmerising effects of videos keep young children from connecting with their parents and others, a key facet in building the sophisticated social skills that are central to human development.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics found earlier this year that 90.3 per cent of kids between five and 14 spent time on screen-based activities when not at school, and most of those – 56.8 per cent – were glued to screens for 10 or more hours each week. Surveys have consistently shown that children have been exposed to rising amounts of screen time in recent years, including by parents struggling with the challenges of managing the moods and time demands of young children. Many of the most popular channels on YouTube, for example, feature nursery rhymes, simplistic games and other content that appeal to preschoolers. (YouTube long has maintained that its service is intended for those 13 or older.)

More than 40 percent of Afghan kids aren’t in school

If you’re a child living in Afghanistan, there’s a better than 40 percent chance you’re not in school. That’s one of the damning items from a report that paints a bleak picture of the state of education in the war-torn country. According to the report, released Saturday by UNICEF, USAID, the think tank Samuel Hall and the Afghan government, 43.7 percent of Afghan children between the ages of 7 and 17 — 3.7 million kids — are not receiving schooling, despite education being a constitutional right in Afghanistan. According to UNICEF, the ongoing war, extreme poverty and cultural discrimination against women have pushed up the rate of out-of-school children for the first time since 2002, a year after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

More than 16 years later, Afghanistan remains a hotbed of conflict, suicide bombings and airstrikes — and schools are sometimes caught in the crossfire. In April, for example, the Afghan government killed dozens of civilians, including children at a religious school, in an airstrike in Kunduz province aimed at the Taliban. The report also points out that an uptick in militant attacks on mosques and public squares, especially in recent months, has considerably affected children’s access to education.Of the 43.7 percent of children who are out of school, 60 percent are girls, the report says, compounding already-severe gender-based discrimination in the country. In some provinces, as many as 85 percent of girls are not going to school, and in October, a report by One — a global organization that fights extreme poverty — ranked Afghanistan as the fourth-worst country for girls to get an education.

The findings are probably disappointing for a government that has championed education as a top priority since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. After invading Afghanistan that year, the United States also poured large sums into boosting schooling there. According to the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, the Pentagon, State Department and USAID spent $759 million on primary and secondary education in Afghanistan from 2002 through 2016. But there may also be cause for hope. UNICEF noted that while school-attendance rates are low, dropout rates are low, as well. Eight-five percent of boys and girls who start primary school go on to complete their last grade. “The challenge is to get children to start school in the first place,” UNICEF said in a news release.

By Ruby Mellen

Courtesy : The Washington Post