Laylee Moshiri, Alex Gasasira and Hubert Gijzen
On any normal weekday morning we would hear the familiar and comforting sounds of school children walking in small groups giggling with each other — strolling down the various roads and footpaths of Zimbabwe’s cities, towns and villages filtering towards the local school.
A full day of learning ahead. Wisdom passed on from the teacher. Games or a kick of the football in the school yard. And a good meal for lunch.
But this year that sound and sight vanished. At the end of March, 9500 schools in Zimbabwe closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic — affecting more than 4.6 million children in the country.
The Government, through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) and partners such as UNICEF, WHO and UNESCO are working hard to prepare the country towards reopening schools and reopen in the safest way possible for children, teachers and communities. It was a relief to see that the Cambridge Examination classes went back to the classroom and the Zimbabwe School Examination Council (ZIMSEC) examination classes: Grade VII, Form IV and Form VI returned later in September. The expectation is that all grades will follow soon after this. While welcoming the steps towards reopening schools, it is worth reinforcing some of the things we know about Covid-19 and the increasing evidence pointing to the impact of school closures on learners.
Scientific evidence informs that children and adolescents are less likely to contract Covid-19 and when they do, they generally have a milder form of the virus.
Documented transmission among children and staff within educational settings is limited because so many countries closed schools and children have largely remained at home during times of intense community transmission.
Prolonged closure of schools is not an option in a developing country context, given that schooling is protective, particularly for poor and vulnerable children and adolescents. Extended school closures negatively impact children’s ability to learn, including those in pre-primary grades. The longer children are out of school, the higher their prospects of permanently dropping out of school and their likelihood of dire problems including child labour. After extended breaks from school many children simply never return .In equal measure, evidence shows that the cost of a continued lockdown is very high for children. It increases the risk of teenage pregnancies, sexual exploitation, child marriages, abuse, violence, mental health issues and other threats to their well-being.
A framework for reopening schools developed by UNESCO, the World bank, UNICEF and WFP reiterates that these negative impacts will be significantly higher for marginalised children, such as those living in countries affected by conflict and other protracted crises, migrants, the forcibly displaced, minorities, children with disabilities, and children in institutions. In Zimbabwe, Helpline services such as those operated by Musasa Project and Childline have reported significant increases in reports of gender-based violence and child protection concerns since the lockdown began in April this year.
Of the child protection cases reported, many are directly related to violence against children and sexual and gender-based violence, with a majority of the perpetrators being people within the child’s home and close environment.
In addition, lengthy closures disrupt essential school-based services such as school feeding, which provides the only nutritious meal for many poor children, psychosocial support, immunisations, and can lead to increased anxiety due to loss of teachers/peer interaction.
Laylee Moshiri is the Representative, UNICEF Zimbabwe
Alex Gasasira is the Representative, WHO Zimbabwe
Hubert Gijzen is Southern Africa Regional Director and Representative, UNESCO