This Article “Covid-19 And Its Effects On Education of Children: Reflecting On the Importance of Opening Schools During the Lockdown” will argue against the decision by most governments to close schools in times of covid-19 pandemic. It is intended to provide some insights for consideration when making policies about closure of schools during the lockdowns. Why should students be spared?

1. Covid-19 And Its Effects On Education of Children: Reflecting On the Importance of
Opening Schools During the Lockdown
COVID-19 pandemic is currently the major catastrophic the world is facing since the end of World
War Two. Since its eruption in Asia before end of 2019, the pandemic has blowout almost to every
landmass and more people are still dying on every day basis. Considering how dangerous the
disease is, most countries have deployed means of containing the virus including, imposing
lockdowns, restricting public gatherings and closing schools among other preventative measures.
Whilst these preventative measures really work to contain the virus to a great extent, it is important
to think twice before making the decision to shut schools. In this regard it is of paramount
importance to consider on whether schools should be closed during the covid-19 pandemic or
consider opening them as these decisions have potential to affect the livelihood of children. This
paper “Covid-19 And Its Effects On Education of Children: Reflecting On the Importance of
Opening Schools During the Lockdown” will therefore argue against the decision by most
governments to close schools in times of covid-19 pandemic.
In my view, the benefits of opening schools especially for children during the covid-19 pandemic
outweighs the benefits we might get from closing schools. There are so many reasons and evidence
to back this assertion. It has been noted that “children are minimally susceptible to Covid-19
disease; they are hit the hardest by psychosocial impact of this pandemic and not really by getting
seriously sick. Being quarantined in homes and institutions may impose greater psychological
burden than the physical sufferings caused by the virus” (Ghosh, Dubey, Chatterjee & Dubey
(2020). Furthermore, according to Iqbal & Tayyab (2021), “the physical distancing measures and
school closures have had many implications on the mental and physical health and wellbeing of
the children and their families”. The fact that children are less prone to the virus, should be an
encouragement to leave schools open even in times of covid-19 so long as all covid-19
preventative protocols are being adhered at schools and during transit between schools and home.
UNICEF (2020) and United Nations (2020) also noted that around 188 countries executed
country-wide school closures disturbed more than 1.6 billion youngsters.
The negative effects of closing schools are so many and these includes lower level of education
attainment, rise in dropout rates, increase in child labor, early pregnancies and child marriages just
to mention a few. Schrager (2020) stated that “even brief school closures, such as the 1916 polio
pandemic, lowered levels of educational attainment”. This suggests that if governments continue
to shut schools, many children will eventually become uneducated as they get swallowed in early

2. marriages, unwanted pregnancies and will eventually dropout from schools. While the financial
expenses of shutting organizations emerge promptly and are consequently exceptionally notable,
shut schools have negative economic effects on the human resources which will emerge in long
run. Kotera & Seshadri (2019) noted that education is a vital determinant of future wages, and
schools are a significant driver of intergenerational versatility. According to Ros´ario (2020),
“Children from vulnerable families will be forced to venture into labor as they may be deprived
of essential goods, due to the absence of social support provided by schools such as free lunches
or food at reduced prices”. Therefore, governments should consider the economic outlook of the
future when considering the option to close schools. Largely, Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented
and nobody knows when it will exactly come to an end or if it has come to stay. Therefore, I see
that it is unwise to come out with measures that will impact the children as they are moreover less
prone to get sick even after contacting the person who is positive. We often say that children are
the future leaders, in this respect it is wise to protect the future by making policies that will not
hamper on their right to education. While impermanent school terminations because of wellbeing
and different emergencies are not new sadly, the worldwide scale and speed of the current
educational disturbance is unmatched and, whenever delayed, could undermine the right to
education UNESCO (2020). Cohen & Kupferschmidt (2020) noted that although scientific
discussion is continuing with respect to the efficacy of school terminations on virus spread, the
point that schools are shut for elongated period may well have negative social and wellbeing
consequences for youngsters living in poverty, and are likely to worsen current inequalities.
From the ongoing discussion, we can conclude that there is overpowering proof on the negative
effect of school terminations on youngsters'. For instance, lower level of education attainment,
rise in dropout rates, increase in child labor, early pregnancies and child marriages just to mention
a few. It has also been pointed out that children are minimally susceptible to Covid-19 disease and
hence no need to keep them away from schools. However, considering how dangerous the disease
is especially to the elderly, governments should see to it that all preventative measures as far as
covid-19 is concerned are put in place. Whilst we have seen form the ongoing discussion that
children are less prone to covid-19, this does not undermine the need to have them protected from
the novel virus as they may carry the virus and infect the elderly who may get seriously sick and
die if the worse comes to worst. In this regard, it is paramount importance to see to it that schools
be among the first institutions to be opened when the security measures are instituted.

3. Reference:
Cohen, J., & Kupferschmidt, K. (2020). Countries test tactics in ‘war’ against COVID-
19. Science, 367 (6484),1287-1288. DOI: 10.1126/science.367.6484.1287
Ghosh, R., Dubey, MJ., Chatterjee, S., & Dubey, S. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on children:
special focus on the psychosocial aspect. Minerva Pediatr ,72(3),226-35. doi: 10.23736/S0026-
4946.20.05887-9

4. Iqbal, SA., & Tayyab, N. (2021). COVID-19 and children: The mental and physical
reverberations of the pandemic. Child Care Health and Development, 47(1),136-139. doi:
10.1111/cch.12822
Kotera, T., & Seshadri, A. (2017). Educational Policy and Intergenerational Mobility, Review of
Economic Dynamics, 25,187-207. doi: 10.1016/j.red.2017.02.005.
Ros´ario, R., (2020). COVID-19 and Schools Closure: Implications for School Nurses. The
Journal of School Nursing,36(4) 241-242.doi: 10.1177/1059840520925533
Schrager, A., (2020). Negative Effects of Closed Schools-Covid. City Journal. Retrieved from
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