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Masks are compulsory in school lessons in Ditzingen in Baden-Württemberg (archive image)
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
Social isolation, learning deficits, frustration: the consequences of the corona-related school closures for children and young people have been described in many countries.
But in the course of the pandemic so far there has been a change in strategy worldwide: In most countries, schools are now mostly open - despite the Omicron virus variant and despite new waves of infection.
This emerges from an analysis by the United Nations cultural and educational organization Unesco on the International Day of Education on Monday.
Accordingly, closed schools have become increasingly rare.
However, the education experts warn of the long-term consequences of the closures that have been survived and call for schools to be strengthened for the following crises.
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"In 135 countries, the schools are mostly open," says Deputy UNESCO Director General for Education, Stefania Giannini, in Paris.
Only twelve countries have currently decided to keep schools closed.
On average worldwide, schools were closed for 20 weeks during the corona crisis and only partially open for another 20 weeks.
The educational policy course differs considerably depending on the continent.
"In Uganda, the schools have just reopened after 80 weeks of closure," says the analysis.
There were also long closing times in Kuwait, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
In Europe and North America, the average was 20 to 23 weeks of school closures, Giannini said. France, for example, only closed schools for seven weeks, and there were restricted operations for five other weeks. In Germany, according to earlier information, the federal states averaged 17 weeks of closing time at secondary schools. According to the Conference of Ministers of Education, there are currently around 580 schools in Germany, which are a good two percent, with restricted operations.
"The good news is that governments have now decided to keep schools open, no matter what the effort," said UNESCO expert Giannini.
This is in stark contrast to the situation a year ago when most schools were closed.
Reasons for the change of course are the vaccination campaigns, better hygiene plans for schools and a "learning-by-doing" effect.
Reading and understanding got worse
There was also a greater awareness of the importance of face-to-face teaching.
»There is a global recognition of schools as a social place and as a place of exchange.« But there were also long-term consequences of the school closures, says Giannini.
The quality of learning has suffered, which is noticeable, for example, in reading and understanding skills.
The President of the German Unesco Commission, Maria Böhmer, warned of serious consequences, especially for those who had previously had difficulties gaining a foothold in the education system. "The effects of school closures on young people's learning could be among the most costly consequences of the pandemic worldwide." Hundreds of millions of children and young people had previously had no access to schooling, and the pandemic is now threatening to cause further educational deficits.
It is important to create permanently better educational opportunities after the corona crisis, explained Unesco Secretary General Audrey Azoulay.
"We have to make up for the injustices of the past and gear digital change towards inclusion and justice." For Germany, UNESCO representative Böhmer also called for an expansion of digitization in education.
"Distance learning can only be an imperfect substitute for lost classroom time."
him/dpa