Experts have urged the government to expedite the Covid-19 vaccination of students and reopen the schools for the sake of the children's future.
Save the Children fund started a campaign named “Safe Back to School (SB2S)” on February 10, 2021, to bring the children back to the school safely.
Since then, the campaign has been successfully working on advocacy at local and national levels as well as mass awareness-raising at the community level, according to a press release.
As the campaign’s one-year anniversary approaches, they call on the government to expedite the vaccination process of the specified age group and reopen schools for all students.
Twenty-one national and international development groups have joined the campaign, and they stand ready to assist the Bangladesh government in reopening schools and ensuring complete immunization of pupils, as well as maintaining adequate hygienic measures.
The organizations that are steering the campaign are Brac, Save the Children in Bangladesh, British Council, CAMPE, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Educo Bangladesh, FIVDB, Friendship, Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh, Handicap International- Humanity and Inclusion, Jagorani Chakra Foundation, Leonard Cheshire, Plan International Bangladesh, Room to Read Bangladesh, Sesame Workshop Bangladesh, Sightsavers, Stromme Foundation, Teach for Bangladesh, VSO, World Vision Bangladesh and Young Power in Social Action.
When the novel coronavirus suddenly invaded the world at the beginning of 2020, the Bangladesh government had shut down formal educational activities for 18 months to protect the students.
The educational institutions restarted on September 12, 2021, after the long vacation when the coronavirus infection rate had declined considerably.
This comeback, however, ended with the current rise in Covid-19 cases.
The government temporarily closed all educational institutions on January 21, barely four months after reinstating physical attendance owing to the spread of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.
The children were negatively impacted by the 18-month school shutdown. During this difficult period, their mental health has been seriously questioned, said the press release.
As a result of unequal access to the digital education system, many students were absent. In poor families, child marriages increased.
During the pandemic, many families chose hard work over schooling for their children to help supplement their family's finances. Increased violence towards children has also been a source of concern throughout this time.
By keeping these unexpected challenges to children's well-being in the mind, experts worry that discontinuing school-based educational activities may drive them back into an uncertain future.
As their fight against coronavirus is far from getting over, the Safe Back to School campaign strongly recommends keeping the school-based educational activities uninterrupted, considering the adverse effects on children, while ensuring proper maintenance of hygiene and government’s guidelines and instructions.
They appreciate the government's timely move to decrease the age of vaccination to 12-17 years old.
However, it is critical that all children in this age range be completely vaccinated before returning to school.
Thus, they advise all children in this age range to be vaccinated, and schools to be reopened and unwired.
To teach students good hygiene and follow government requirements, it is vital to provide enough infrastructure and hygiene products such as water, soap, and hand sanitizer in all educational institutions throughout the nation, particularly in distant and outlying locations.
Aside from returning children safely to school, instructors and students should organize a monitoring committee to ensure good hygiene across all school buildings.
Parents need to be made more aware of the possible exposure of their children to coronavirus both within and outside the school.
