The representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) in the Dominican Republic, Rosa Elcarte, urged this Wednesday, 13 January 2021 that the government design protocols that indicate where and when schools can be opened in a semi-presential format.
She called for no effort to be spared to keep schools open. She said the government should prioritize school reopening even in these times of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The executive director of Unicef executive director, Henrietta Fore has called on governments to consider returning to the classroom after the evidence that schools are not the cause of the pandemic.
Although there is strong evidence about the effects of school closures on children and there is growing evidence that schools are not the cause of the pandemic, many countries have chosen to keep schools closed and some have not opened for almost a year, Fore said in a recent document.
According to Unicef, the price of school closures has been devastating, considering that lockdowns have affected 90% of students worldwide and deprived more than a third of school-age children of access to distance education.
In the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Education is focusing on distance learning. The Ministry recently carried out a RD$10 billion tender to provide public school students with computers and laptops. All schools are closed, including in communities where there is low spread of Covid-19.
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El Nacional
Unicef
14 January 2021