Categories: Administration

In debates about opening schools, we’re neglecting an important voice: our children’s

<p>European countries have been asked to focus on &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;ensuring the right of children to be involved in all decisions that affect them”&comma; in a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apps&period;who&period;int&sol;iris&sol;bitstream&sol;handle&sol;10665&sol;344503&sol;WHO-EURO-2021-3169-42927-59948-eng&period;pdf&quest;sequence&equals;1&amp&semi;isAllowed&equals;y">newly released report<&sol;a> ahead of the school year in Europe&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The report — from the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apps&period;who&period;int&sol;iris&sol;bitstream&sol;handle&sol;10665&sol;344503&sol;WHO-EURO-2021-3169-42927-59948-eng&period;pdf&quest;sequence&equals;1&amp&semi;isAllowed&equals;y">High-level meeting on schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic<&sol;a>” held in July — states &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;very few governments” have made an effort to engage children in decision-making&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The report was released by the European Office of the World Health Organization &lpar;WHO&rpar;&comma; United Nations Children’s Fund &lpar;UNICEF&rpar; and the United Nations Educational&comma; Scientific and Cultural Organisation &lpar;UNESCO&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It’s based on the premise school closures are detrimental to child health&comma; well-being and educational outcomes&period; It recommends&comma; from a child-centred perspective&comma; that school closures be avoided as much as possible&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And it presents ways to help keep children safe from COVID when they do go to school&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Schools in New South Wales are <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theguardian&period;com&sol;australia-news&sol;2021&sol;aug&sol;27&sol;return-to-school-nsw-plan-what-you-need-to-know-when-schools-go-back-reopening-covid-date-students-term-4">on track to reopen by October 25<&sol;a> following four months of closure&period; The state government has introduced an incremental reopening plan&period; Kindergarten and year 1 children go back to the classrooms first&comma; followed by other cohorts on weekly bases — a process that should be complete by November 8&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Victoria has <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;abc&period;net&period;au&sol;news&sol;2021-09-01&sol;victorias-new-covid-lockdown-and-restrictions-approach&sol;100425020">not given certainty<&sol;a> to whether children will return to the classroom in term 4&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When comparing the NSW plan to international best practice&comma; it doesn’t measure up&period; And Victoria’s movements don’t seem to be following a child-centred approach either&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Where the back-to-school plans fall short<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The number of children contracting COVID-19 in Australia <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;under-12s-are-increasingly-catching-covid-19-how-sick-are-they-getting-and-when-will-we-be-able-to-vaccinate-them-165948&quest;utm&lowbar;source&equals;twitter&amp&semi;utm&lowbar;medium&equals;bylinetwitterbutton">continues to rise<&sol;a>&period; Meanwhile&comma; data from the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;washingtonpost&period;com&sol;health&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;28&sol;delta-variant-unvaccinated-children-elementary-schools&sol;">United States<&sol;a> and the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;abc&period;net&period;au&sol;news&sol;2021-08-29&sol;push-for-young-people-to-get-vaccinated-in-the-uk-covid&sol;100389022">United Kingdom<&sol;a> show high transmission rates in primary schools&comma; especially where insufficient safety measures are in place&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the NSW plan&comma; school staff will <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;9news&period;com&period;au&sol;national&sol;coronavirus-nsw-schools-restrictions-update-staggered-return-for-students&sol;047f63df-d8a4-4aa2-a745-0a71278f6899">have to be vaccinated by November 8<&sol;a>&comma; but high school students&comma; who are eligible for the vaccine&comma; are free to return to school without getting the jab&period; This means primary school children&comma; for whom a safe vaccine is not available&comma; will return to school before all adults are vaccinated&period; So schools will have high concentrations of unvaccinated individuals coming together under one roof&comma; spending hours indoors&comma; every day&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Masks will be mandated for all adults on site and for secondary school children&comma; but not for primary school children&period; This is despite their proven success in reducing transmission&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"align-center "><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;419182&sol;original&sol;file-20210902-23-1a83ea6&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;fit&equals;clip" sizes&equals;"&lpar;min-width&colon; 1466px&rpar; 754px&comma; &lpar;max-width&colon; 599px&rpar; 100vw&comma; &lpar;min-width&colon; 600px&rpar; 600px&comma; 237px" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;419182&sol;original&sol;file-20210902-23-1a83ea6&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;385&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 600w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;419182&sol;original&sol;file-20210902-23-1a83ea6&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;385&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1200w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;419182&sol;original&sol;file-20210902-23-1a83ea6&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;385&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 1800w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;419182&sol;original&sol;file-20210902-23-1a83ea6&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;483&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 754w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;419182&sol;original&sol;file-20210902-23-1a83ea6&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;483&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1508w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;419182&sol;original&sol;file-20210902-23-1a83ea6&period;jpg&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;483&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 2262w" alt&equals;"Masked children enter a primary school classroom" &sol;><figcaption><span class&equals;"caption">Despite their proven success in reducing transmission&comma; masks will not be mandatory for primary school children when they return to school in NSW&period;<&sol;span> <span class&equals;"attribution"><a class&equals;"source" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;shutterstock&period;com&sol;image-photo&sol;group-children-face-mask-back-school-1746069482">Shutterstock<&sol;a><&sol;span><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>A <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;medrxiv&period;org&sol;content&sol;10&period;1101&sol;2021&period;08&period;10&period;21261726v1">study<&sol;a> published earlier this month shows that&comma; without mandatory masks and testing in primary schools&comma; more than 75&percnt; of students are at risk of infection within three months of returning to school&period; Universal mask-wearing can reduce student infections by 26-78&percnt;&comma; it says&period; Adding fortnightly testing can further reduce infections by 50&percnt;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The effectiveness of masks in schools has been proven in other <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;nytimes&period;com&sol;2021&sol;08&sol;10&sol;opinion&sol;covid-schools-masks&period;html&quest;referringSource&equals;articleShare">studies<&sol;a> too&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apps&period;who&period;int&sol;iris&sol;bitstream&sol;handle&sol;10665&sol;344503&sol;WHO-EURO-2021-3169-42927-59948-eng&period;pdf&quest;sequence&equals;1&amp&semi;isAllowed&equals;y">European report recommends<&sol;a> rapid testing in schools&period; Austria&comma; for example&comma; has developed a rapid screening policy&comma; aiming to avoid school closures by identifying infected children&comma; removing them from schools and locating other infected students through secondary tracing&period; Children perform the test themselves&comma; and most children and parents were satisfied with this regime as it helped keep schools open and reduce transmission&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>NSW has not introduced a similar plan&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Other recommendations in the European report include paying attention to children living in vulnerable situations&comma; the effects school closures have on them&comma; and how digital gaps can curtail their access to remote learning&period; Schools in Victoria are open to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;healthdirect&period;gov&period;au&sol;covid19-restriction-checker&sol;education-and-childcare&sol;vic">vulnerable children<&sol;a> and children of essential workers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But in NSW <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;healthdirect&period;gov&period;au&sol;covid19-restriction-checker&sol;education-and-childcare&sol;nsw">parents in LGAs of concern<&sol;a> are &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;strongly encouraged” to keep their kids at home&period; Many of these are lower socioeconomic areas&period; This further marginalises children from communities who already suffer the most during the lockdown&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Children have internationally agreed rights<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The July meeting in Europe heard that&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;&lbrack;…&rsqb; the Committee on the Rights of the Child warned &lbrack;…&rsqb; of the grave physical&comma; psychological and mental impacts of the pandemic on children and called on countries to base their response not just on public health&comma; but also on the broad framework of rights&comma; including economic&comma; social and cultural rights&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>The report draws attention to several children’s rights governments should respect&period; Australia ratified the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;ohchr&period;org&sol;EN&sol;ProfessionalInterest&sol;Pages&sol;CRC&period;aspx">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child<&sol;a> in 1990&comma; which means children in Australia can expect the government to respect their rights&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The call to include children as part of decision-making follows a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tbinternet&period;ohchr&period;org&sol;&lowbar;layouts&sol;15&sol;treatybodyexternal&sol;Download&period;aspx&quest;symbolno&equals;INT&sol;CRC&sol;STA&sol;9095&amp&semi;Lang&equals;en">similar one<&sol;a> from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in April last year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Children have unique insight into how a school day looks&period; When presented with information about potential safety measures to be implemented – particularly around physical distancing — they will be able to provide views and solutions relevant to them and other children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Participation of children requires more than giving them the opportunity to voice their concerns&period; Whenever a child speaks&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;tandfonline&period;com&sol;doi&sol;abs&sol;10&period;1080&sol;01411920701657033">there must be an adult willing to listen<&sol;a> and to pay close attention to what the child is saying&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There is no evidence to suggest the NSW government gave children any meaningful opportunity to participate in the design of its back-to-school plan&comma; nor that it based its decisions on any child’s rights assessment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There is also no evidence to suggest the Victorian government is engaging with children as it prepares its own back-to-school plan&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A child’s rights assessment must account for a range of relevant rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child&period; These include the rights to education&comma; health&comma; play&comma; life and development&period; Children’s best interests must be a primary consideration&comma; and this can not be done without giving proper weight to children’s own insights&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Emphasising physical safety and therefore closing schools while overlooking other equally important dimensions of children’s lives is not a child-friendly policy&period; Nor is opening schools in the name of facilitating adults’ &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;freedom”&comma; without adequately protecting children’s rights&period;<&excl;-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag&period; Please DO NOT REMOVE&period; --><img style&equals;"border&colon; none &excl;important&semi; box-shadow&colon; none &excl;important&semi; margin&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; max-height&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; max-width&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; min-height&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; min-width&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; opacity&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; outline&colon; none &excl;important&semi; padding&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; text-shadow&colon; none &excl;important&semi;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;counter&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;content&sol;167179&sol;count&period;gif&quest;distributor&equals;republish-lightbox-basic" alt&equals;"The Conversation" width&equals;"1" height&equals;"1" &sol;><&excl;-- End of code&period; If you don't see any code above&comma; please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button&period; The page counter does not collect any personal data&period; More info&colon; https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;republishing-guidelines --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;profiles&sol;noam-peleg-685015">Noam Peleg<&sol;a>&comma; Senior Lecturer&comma; Faculty of Law and Justice&semi; Associate&comma; the Australian Human Rights Institute&comma; <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;institutions&sol;unsw-1414">UNSW&period; <&sol;a><&sol;em>This article is republished from <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com">The Conversation<&sol;a> under a Creative Commons license&period; Read the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;in-debates-about-opening-schools-were-neglecting-an-important-voice-our-childrens-167179">original article<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;h6>&NewLine;

Explore our latest issue...
School News

School News is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.

Recent Posts

Are you teaching out of field? Your input is needed

A study investigating the realities of out-of-field teachers is seeking participants for groundbreaking research.

7 days ago

New resources to support media literacy teaching

The resources are designed to support teachers to make sure all students are engaged in…

7 days ago

Understanding tic disorders: What every school should know

Tic disorders are far more common than many people realise, and are often misrepresented in…

7 days ago

The modern library: More than a book storeroom

The school library has long been a place of discovery, reflection, and learning. But as…

7 days ago

Build a strong school community to prevent bullying

Is your school an inclusive community that empowers students to recognise bullying and to stand…

7 days ago

Government school enrolments at 10-year low

Performance indicators for the education and VET sectors have just been released with some encouraging…

2 weeks ago

This website uses cookies.