Like millions of other children, Mia Sulastri has put forth great effort to further her education. When her school in Indonesia was closed due to the COVID-19 epidemic, a 17-year-old boy walked 24 kilometers on a motorcycle, four times a week, to receive a text message from his teacher and send him an email.
Mia is one of the students, parents and teachers of Human Rights Watch who interviewed 60 countries last year, to find out how they are trying to continue their education during the closure of COVID-19 schools.
We have heard over and over again that children – who often run away from the dangerous symptoms of COVID-19 – had to give up the education they were supposed to receive. The closure of the school is part of a government initiative to protect health and save the lives of their families, friends, teachers and community members.
It is business students who are often made on a voluntary basis, but at a loss.
We also heard that the failure of governments before the epidemic to provide adequate public support or to receive and include all students in schools, has made the effects of the epidemic even worse on children’s education.
A 14-year-old girl in Lebanon told us that her English teachers banned online classes almost all the time because of the lack of electricity. Lebanon has already failed to change its electricity supply, which is why those who cannot afford a private generator are left without reliable electricity.
The headmaster of a school with a well-known Indonesian student group said he had the best internet in his area, which cost him $ 315 a month. “I could start opening a website and go sweep the floor and wait for the page to load,” he said. “I don’t believe going online can be any other way unless the internet is better.”
A second-grade teacher in Germany stated that for her school, she had to work hard to get her professional skills. “He then announced that Skype would be installed on the school’s computers,” he said. “It turned out that the school computers did not have a camera, so the head was closed.”
In contrast, a high school lecturer in São Paulo, Brazil, who described him as “very fortunate”, said he had already taught using the digital platform for five years: “In my country, things are easier.”
The epidemic did not cause these problems or inequalities, it only exacerbated their problems.
Governments already had evidence to prove which children had not been deprived of education prior to the epidemic – often girls, children who were poor, disabled, or living in war zones. Yet the same children feel that school closures are becoming more difficult.
The Ugandan government must have provided 12-year free education to a 14-year-old boy who told us he was selling biscuits on the streets of Uganda’s capital to save money for school fees, after his family suffered financial hardship as a result of the epidemic.
The Armenian government must have predicted that it would be difficult for a 14-year-old hearing-impaired person to read sign language on a phone that was divided into seven Zoom class.
The British government needs to make sure that children from poor families who eat breakfast at school do not go hungry when the school closes.
Iraqi fathers are right in saying that it was not the fault of their 15-year-old son that he could not sign his name – after years of being forced to close schools by ISIL (ISIS) insurgents, and not studying in an internal prison for immigrants.
The release of the COVID-19 vaccine raises hopes that with the end of the epidemic, it is clear that simply restoring the status quo is not enough.
Many students have been working hard. Governments need to fulfill their responsibilities. They should fix, reduce, and correct temporary inequalities in access to education opportunities, free access to high school education, and opportunities to learn in the classroom or in the actual classroom.
They should follow up on children who do not return to class when schools reopen and give them a reason to return, just as they should follow up on children who have not gone to school before school closes. Governments should make primary and secondary education free and accessible to all children. They need to eliminate inequalities in access to electricity.
They need to stop hiding, realize that the internet is now essential for children’s education and increase access to the internet. They should end child marriage, a major barrier to girls’ education. They should develop educational strategies for children with disabilities, whether Indians, refugees, or those living in poverty or war zones, to be accepted and included.
Reopening class doors is just the beginning.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor of Al Jazeera.
