Pandemic brought catastrophe to children with regard to their education and health

Covid 19 is considered as one of the most lethal and destructive viruses by the experts of World Health Organisation. It has destroyed almost every country of the world and has left them with no option, except to go for strict lockdown , so that they can secure the lives of their respective citizens. Every single sector has fallen prey to the virus, now being declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Economy, Trade and Business, Industrial Sector, Educational Sector etc. of almost all the countries have been left in the pickle. Once the world manages to overcome the pandemic, it has a tough road ahead to restore every tattering sector across continents and countries. This surely is easier said than done. Those who have lost their precious lives due to this deadly virus are irreversible. Nevertheless, to protect human lives from this dreadful virus must be the fundamental priority of every nation in the world.

The Pandemic has brought a catastrophe to the children across the world when it comes to their education and health. At present more than 180 countries are under lockdown which will ostensibly effect more than 1.5 billion children and youth in the world.

Due to lockdown, Educational institutions have been closed again in every corner of the world, which means every nation has to switch to the online mode of education. This online system of education is not free from flaws and is badly ruining the interest of children in education. Secondly,it is not productive  for every one in the world as a large number of students  who belong to poor families especially in the underdeveloped and developing countries can hardly afford it.Because they are not in a position to purchase smartphone of 10 thousand or twenty thousand is still one of the primary concerns of numberless students . In other words we can say that the online system of education is based on inclusion and exclusion policy and is mostly beneficial for those students only who belong to well off families in the world. It is because of these hardships, they prefer to seek education in government schools where education is mostly given free to them. Else, they would be deprived of the right to education at a very little age which is very essential for the development of their personality.

 Closure of schools for an indefinite period will badly affect those children who are already experiencing barriers in education or who are at higher risk of being excluded for a variety of reasons. These include children who are facing problems of disabilities or those who are lacking internet facility, or who are living in remote areas  or are asylum seekers and refugees and those families who have lost their income as a result of job cuts or they are in difficult situations because of limited resources at home and lack of money. Focusing on online learning in the wake of Covid 19 has highlighted long standing inequalities. Children living in the most disconnected places in the world are facing the worst internet crisis or they have very limited access to the internet. Children's living in countries that have imposed internet shutdowns in some regions including Bangladesh, India and Myanmar have no hope of access to online learning. The risk to access online learning also highlights the privacy consideration for children. Child education is far less protected than health data. Many countries have regulations that govern the appropriate use and disclosure of personally identifiable health data,even during emergencies. But while children's data may be just as sensitive- revealing names, home addresses, behaviour and other highly personal details that can harm children and families. Most countries don't have data privacy laws that protect children. This means that the government will struggle to hold providers of internet education technologies accountable in handling children' s data.

Covid 19 has exposed vast disparities across the world especially between rich and poor countries where education system is rattling right now.In poor countries educational access to the poor people is very low due to lack of internet shortage and lack of availability of learning method for children or there is hardly any mobile network in the far flying area of poor countries in the world. In other words we can say that Covid- 19 crisis has limited the access for the poor children across the globe. Closure of schools across the world have badly affected the sense of stability and normalcy that school provides to the children.It is evident from this fact that in lockdown, children across the globe are not consistently committed and dedicated towards their education owing to the mayhem brought by the pandemic.

 Covid 19 has not only affected child education only but it has also ruined their health also. The Pandemic is straining the health system and leading to the reallocation of  personnel and resource shortage of medical supplies and disruption to some routine health care. The 2014 – 2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa overwhelmed the health care system in Guinea , Sierra Leone etc. which reduced access to basic health care ,  including HIV , testing and treatment, childhood vaccination and maternity care. Reduced access to treatment during the outbreak led to dramatic increase in death among children. The Covid 19 have similar effects. The executive director of United Nations Children Emergency Fund has Said " As the pandemic progresses , critical life saving services, including immunisation, will likely to be disrupted, especially in Asia , Africa and Middle East where they are sorely needed”. Children, who rely on  school for their health care have been particularly affected by Covid-19 school closure. Access to health care is particularly important to students from poorer communities who often have higher rates of asthma, poor nutrition, obesity, anxiety and depression than other children. In addition, billions of children around the world and their caregivers may experience stress , fear , anxiety , depression and other changes in their psychological and emotional health as they see their life changing profoundly during the pandemic with school closure, quarantine, and lockdown ( especially if children are separated from their parents or caregivers), economic hardship, and other difficult changes , including the possible loss of a parents

Besides covid-19 have affected on health, education, it has  further deepened the problem of poverty, child labour, child marriage etc. Globally there is one child poor out of three children. Right now 600 million children live in households that are poor in a multidimensional sense, which means they are lacking basic necessities such as nutrition, clean water , health care services, education etc. Due to Covid 19 crisis this number will increase with the passage of time. That means Around 800 million children will live in the household in future. Due to covid crisis, more than 400 million children live in extreme poverty. Right now the world economy is shambling and has resulted in a massive job crisis, and has put poor children at greater risk.

In China, more than five million workers have lost their jobs within two months due to the pandemic. Even in United States of America more than thirty million people have filled for unemployment benefits till the end of 2020.Child labour is the combined product of many factors, such as, Poverty, social norms condoning it, lack of decent work opportunities for adults and adolescent, migration and emergencies. It is not only a cause, but also a consequence of social inequalities reinforced by discrimination. When the pandemic is looming all over the world, there will be automatic increase in number of child labour cases and child marriage cases. Globally, more than 150 children are engaged in child labour, which include  73 million in hazardous work. As the pandemic progresses, this number will increase at an unprecedented rate. Research has shown that child labour is highly associated with financial shock experienced by a family such as illness , disabilities or loss of employment by their parents. Girls from poor families are three times more likely to marry before the age of 18 than girls from wealthier families. Every year 12 million girls are married before the age of 18.With the onslaught of pandemic the number of marrying girls before the age of 18 will increase because poor families are facing economic hardship such as job loss , Poverty , limited resources  , etc. which forced them to think they have no choice except to marry their daughter as soon as possible to reduce the number in the household to feed. According to World vision reports on the situation in Northwest Syria found that almost 100 per cent of girls and 94% of boys surveyed said that child marriage has become common since the start of the conflict. Further World Vision surveyed in Venezuela found that 49% families reports an increase in child marriage since the start of Covid 19.Covid 19 will put an additional 13 million girls at risk over the next ten years. Out of that number up to four million girls may be in danger of child marriage in the next two year.

Bearing in mind the deadly consequences of the pandemic on children, it is necessary for every government of the world to protect the rights of children in their respective countries, especially of poor and vulnerable children, so that they can live a happy and balanced life. Every country of the world must keep in check the heinouscrimes against children, such as forced child labour , child marriage, illegal trafficking of children’s, smuggling of children’s etc.and cease all the stops leading to such crimes.

Author Tahira Noor is a Social Activist  and a member of Youth for Human Rights International. She recently reached out to one hundred dropout girl students voluntarily and unassisted and stimulated them to rejoin schools in Ganderbal. She can be mailed at bhattahira19@gmail.com. Arif Rashid has done post Graduation in Political Science from University of Kashmir and can be reached at arifrashid636@gmail.com