UNICEF: ‘as Georgia begins to ease lockdown, reopening of schools needs to be prioritised’
In its statement UNICEF mentions that when schools reopen, every child should have access to school-based health, hygiene, nutrition services. Also, it is important for every child to have access to the internet. Photo: UNICEF Georgia/Robakidze.
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As Georgia begins to ease lockdown, reopening of schools needs to be prioritised, says UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) Georgia in an official statement.
The statement reads that the longer children stay out of school, the more exposed they are to various risks.
Strict measures were taken to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve. There is increasing evidence that children and schools are not the main drivers of the epidemic across countries. In fact, there is no known evidence on the correlation between the rate of disease transmission and whether schools remain open or closed”, says UNICEF Georgia.
UNICEF Georgia says that there is, however, evidence of the negative impact of school closures on children’s physical and mental health, nutrition, safety and learning. When children are out of school for prolonged periods of time, their exposure to physical, emotional and sexual violence increases.
Some of the recommendations the organisation has released in order to help governments reopen schools safely include:
- Adequate water and hygiene facilities that are critical to the safe reopening of schools
- Implementing physical distancing measures, including prohibiting activities that require large gatherings
- Staggering the start and close of the school day
- Staggering school mealtimes
- Moving classes to temporary spaces or outdoors
- Lessons provided in shifts to reduce class size
In its statement UNICEF mentions that when schools reopen, every child should have access to school-based health, hygiene, nutrition services. Also, it is important for every child to have access to the internet.
The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) will broadcast live lessons for school children starting March 30 amid the coronavirus outbreak in Georgia.
Georgian schools, universities and kindergartens will remain closed in Georgia until April 1 as a measure to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The decision was taken by the Interagency Coordination Council’s meeting earlier today. Also, spring compulsory recruiting for compulsory military service has been postponed until April 13.
Public schools will be closed in Georgia until March 16 as a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. As of today, three Georgian citizens have tested positive for COVID-19, while 170 others, who have been travelling to countries with high risk of the virus, remain under the quarantine in Georgia.
The study process will not be resumed at schools until September 1, however, distance learning will continue in Georgia.
University applicants living in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions will be enrolled in universities without passing the Unified National Exams, reports the Georgian Ministry of Education.
The next academic year may mix online and school studies, said Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabuania, noting that this method will give Georgia an opportunity to start and continue the academic year safely and avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Out of 1,500 schools inspected by the Labor Inspection Department, 81 don’t meet COVID-19 safety standards developed by the Georgian Health Ministry, said Beka Peradze, the head of the department.
The overall human capital index score of Georgia is 0.57, which means that a child born in Georgia is expected to grow up to be only 57 percent as productive as they could be if they enjoyed a complete education and full health, says the latest update of the World Bank’s Human Capital Index (HCI), which measures pre-pandemic human capital outcomes around the world.
Kutaisi City Hall and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have signed a memorandum of cooperation, by which Kutaisi will join the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative.
Child abuse cases have decreased in Georgia by almost 30 per cent, with 1,146 cases reported in January and August 2020.The figure stood at 1,624 in the same period of last year, IPN writes, citing the Agency for State Care and Assistance for the Victims of Human Trafficking. The majority of the cases of child abuse included psycholgical viollence, neglect and coercion.
Twenty schools in Tbilisi, Zugdidi, Rustavi and Kutaisi have moved to remote studies following an uptick in coronavirus cases in schools.
All public and private schools will continue studies remotely until the end of the 1st semester in Tbilisi and nine other big cities due to the rapid increase in the number of new coronavirus cases in the country.
UNICEF Georgia welcomes the Georgian government’s plan to gradually open schools in the cities and the villages of Georgia. An official statement of the organisation reads that safe re-opening of schools and preschools must be prioritised during lifting the restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.