As Ebola closes schools in Africa, how do we help children learn?
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Version 0 of 1. In response to the growing threat of Ebola across west Africa, the governments of Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have closed their schools. The closures are only temporary, but that could change if the spread of the virus continues and accelerates. As of 12 September, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are facing widespread and intense transmission of Ebola (about 100 to 200 new cases per country per week). In other affected countries, the outbreak has been more localised. But in each affected areas the threat could expand rapidly, and there are credible predictions that Ebola could migrate to 15 additional countries and infect more than 20,000 people. With that prognosis, closing schools is an understandable and prudent step to protect children and their families from exposure. The most immediate priority is to put out a raging and growing fire that threatens to affect more lives and territory. The closure plays a dual role in a child’s life. It’s a measure to keep them safer and more days out of school, all wrapped up into one. Many of the Ebola impacted nations were already struggling to provide education for children who had missed years of schooling because of poverty or civil war. The problem of lost time will be compounded: the health crisis is putting on hold teacher training, school constructions, curriculum reviews and the delivery of textbooks – to name just a few issues raised by the crisis. As Ebola robs children of schooling, the seeds are also being sown for ongoing problems in public heath: the more educated people are, the more likely they are to keep themselves, their families and communities safe. In affected countries, fear and misunderstanding about Ebola is intense and widespread, complicating the efforts of health workers to contain the disease. In some cases, people suspected of being ill with the virus, including medical practitioners caring for the sick, face discrimination because of a lack of knowledge about the disease. The scenarios playing out in these African nations are all too familiar to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and our many partners in the education sector. It is one of our priorities to help countries plagued by conflict or natural disaster to maintain continuous schooling for their children. When full continuity is impossible, our aim will be to facilitate children getting education in some other way than through school attendance. In all these contexts, GPE’s role is to keep all the essential players – the NGOs, government ministries, humanitarian responders and education specialists from donor countries and multilateral institutions – working together. In Liberia, where schools will remain closed at least until 1 October, our education partners are currently collaborating closely. They have drawn up an emergency response plan that equips teachers, schools and districts to help raise public awareness about the virus. Plans are being put in place to help children to live with the trauma associated with the outbreak. Should schools remain closed for an indefinite period of time, education leaders are considering a national education radio program for home-based learning. Tragically, the emergency will almost certainly slow, and possibly stop, the remarkable progress Liberia has made over the past decade when it comes to education. In 2010, the Global Partnership approved a US$40m education grant to further this progress and strengthen the management capacity and accountability in the education sector and to improve education in rural areas. While that grant is not at risk, it is dispiriting to see Liberia progress of recent years will stall. In Sierra Leone, schools have not opened since 9 September, and authorities are suggesting they may remain closed for three months or more. As in Liberia, contingency measures are being put in place to compensate for the loss of learning opportunities. As we have learned from many nations in crisis, it is essential that education planners remain vigilant and flexible. Vigilant, to ensure that children are not kept away for too long from their learning, and flexible so they can adapt quickly and effectively to the unexpected. The stakes for anything less are much too high –the time for considered action is now. Julia Gillard is chair of the Global Partnership for Education |