New guidelines provide roadmap for safe reopening of schools in Canada

NEW YORK/PARIS/ROME/TORONTO, 30 April 2020 – UNESCO, UNICEF, WFP and World Bank today issued new guidelines on the safe reopening of schools amidst ongoing closures affecting nearly 1.3 billion students worldwide. 

The agencies also warned that the widespread closures of educational facilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic present an unprecedented risk to children’s education and well-being, particularly for the most marginalized children who rely on school for their education, health, safety and nutrition. The guidelines offer practical advice for national and local authorities on how to keep children safe when they return to school.

“The COVID-19 crisis is a child rights crisis. While children are less likely to get sick from the virus itself, the impacts of control measures are affecting every aspect of their childhood,” said David Morley, President & CEO of UNICEF Canada. “Confining children in lockdown is harming their mental health, increasing their risk of abuse as well as curtailing education and normal development. The longer the lockdown, the more difficult it will be to recover.”

As governments in Canada and around the world work on re-opening strategies to emerge from full lockdown, UNICEF urges them to consider the best interests of children as a priority and have plans ready to reopen schools and other safe spaces for children and youth as soon as they can safely do so. 

The new guidelines note that while there is not yet enough evidence to measure the impact of school closures on disease transmission rates, the adverse effects of school closures on children’s safety and learning are well-documented. Gains made in increasing access to children’s education in recent decades risk being lost and, in the worse cases, reversed completely.

“Unless we prioritize the reopening of schools – when it is safe to do so – we will likely see a devastating reversal in education gains,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.  

The best interests of children and overall public health considerations must be central to national and local authorities’ decisions to reopen schools, the guidelines say. 

Schools must look at how they can reopen better – with support to catch up and learn, but not at the risk of mental health and well-being. Children returning to school will need more comprehensive support including psychosocial support, nutritious meals, recreation and sufficient supplies for hygiene. Children with special needs and at risk of detaching from school need extra support, which may require additional resources. Other critical child and youth programs and services can also use these Guidelines to open up and alleviate the impacts of lockdown on young people. 

UNICEF urges education and health authorities and political leaders to coordinate plans and reach out to parents and young people to inform them of procedures and gather their ideas for a successful re-opening of schools. 

“While many students are falling behind in their learning journey because of prolonged school closures, the decision of when and how to reopen schools, while far from straightforward, should be a priority. Once there is a green light on the health front, a whole set of measures will need to be in place to ensure that no student is left behind. These guidelines provide all-round guidance for governments and partners to facilitate the reopening of schools for students, teachers and families. We share one goal: to protect and advance the right to education for every learner,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

The guidelines include:

• Policy reform: Policy implications address all dimensions of the guidelines, including clear policies for school opening and closure during public health emergencies, reforms needed to expand equitable access for marginalized and out of school children as well as strengthen and standardize remote learning practices.
• Financing requirements: Address the impact of COVID-19 on education and invest in strengthening education systems for recovery and resilience.
• Safe operations: Ensure conditions that reduce disease transmission, safeguard essential services and supplies and promote healthy behaviour. This includes access to soap and clean water for safe handwashing, procedures on when staff or students feel unwell, protocols on social distancing and good hygiene practices.
• Compensating learning: Focus on practices that compensate for lost instructional time, strengthen pedagogy and build on hybrid learning models such as integrating approaches in remote and distance education. This must include knowledge on disease transmission and prevention.
• Wellness and protection: Expand the focus on students’ well-being and reinforce the protection of children through enhanced referral mechanisms and the provision of essential school-based services including healthcare and school meals.
• Reaching the most marginalized: Adapt school opening policies and practices to expand access to marginalized or particularly vulnerable groups including children with special needs and those at risk of detaching from school.

"Once schools begin to reopen, the priority becomes reintegrating students into school settings safely and in ways that allow learning to pick up again, especially for those who suffered the biggest learning losses. This is a critical moment as it is the launching pad for a new normal that should be more effective and equitable. To manage reopenings, schools will need to be logistically prepared with the teaching workforce ready. And they will need to have plans specifically for supporting learning recovery of the most disadvantaged students. The guidelines offer a framework for moving forward that the major UN agencies are aligned around," said Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Global Director for Education.

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Notes to editors:

About World Food Programme

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

About UNESCO

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture. UNESCO's programmes contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in Agenda 2030, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.