In a new policy note, the World Bank’s education team notes that experiences from countries around the world where schools have reopened suggest that with adequate mitigation strategies, schools can increase the risk of disease among students, staff and communities. pose a low risk for transmission.
The team also notes that a year after the pandemic hit, we know a great deal about both the virus and the disease and how to reduce transmission and health officials such as the WHO recommend school as only a “last resort”. Suggests closing. “Available evidence suggests that young children are less likely to get COVID-19, less likely to become seriously ill or die, and less likely to spread the disease to others. Transmission within schools has been low, Especially for pre-primary and primary schools, and staff in schools are more likely to get the virus from other staff and not students,” the World Bank said.
“Given the experiences of safe reopening in countries prior to vaccine development, there is a need to wait for widespread vaccination of school workers or other adults in the community before reopening education systems, often amid high community transmission. However, priority is given to school staff for vaccination. Fear of returning to schools for in-person instruction can be overcome,” it added.
The note said that keeping schools closed eliminates the risk of spreading disease in the school, but it also puts children’s education, psychosocial health and overall development at risk.
“School reopening decisions should reflect evidence-based estimates of the risks associated with reopening schools and the risks associated with keeping schools closed. Experiences from countries around the world where schools have reopened suggest provide that with adequate mitigation strategies, schools pose a low risk for disease transmission among students, staff and communities,” it said.
According to World Bank data, 80 percent of schools worldwide are in regular session. Of those, 54 percent revert to individual instruction, 34 percent rely on mixed or hybrid instruction, while 10 percent continue remote instruction and 2 percent return no instruction.
“Schools have been closed where governments, communities, teachers, or parents fear that reopening schools poses a great risk for disease transmission. In each context, there are risks associated with reopening schools as well. It is important to measure the risks of keeping schools closed, so that decisions to reopen can be based on risk assessments informed by evidence.
“Specifically, we need evidence for both students and school staff to support their susceptibility to getting COVID-19 and the ease with which they transmit the disease to others, and whether reopening schools will prevent COVID-19 within communities.” contributes to the spread of -19. Finally, we need to quantify the harm associated with school closures. A year and a half into the pandemic, such evidence is increasingly available, suggesting that school closures The costs of this far outweigh the risks associated with opening schools with adequate mitigation strategies,” it said.
Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools in more than 188 countries globally, leaving 1.6 billion children – 75 percent of enrolled students – out of school.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic spread to more countries in early 2020, we knew very little about the virus: how it spreads, who would be most affected, and how to treat it. Children’s safety and To slow disease transmission, most governments responded by closing schools.
“A year later, we know a lot more about both the virus and the disease and how to reduce transmission and health officials like the WHO recommend school closures only as a last resort,” it said.
The World Bank, citing evidence about low transmission of COVID-19 among children, said that population surveillance studies and contact tracing studies show that young children, especially those under ten years of age, compared with adults and adolescents Older children are much less susceptible to it. The chances of contracting COVID-19 and spreading the disease are very less.
“Among children who have acquired Covid-19, serious illness and death are rare and usually occur in children with other underlying diseases,” it said.
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