Covid-19 and Schools

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic had a sudden and dramatic impact on many aspects of everyday life throughout the world. In Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom, many adults moved from a designated workplace to working at home. Others were placed on furlough or lost their job. The pandemic created some very pressing challenges in school education. The vast majority of school children were no longer in school and schools only remained open for small numbers of children of key workers. School children returned to school in Scotland on the 10th of August 2020, under strict guidance about hygiene and social distancing. This is an appropriate point in time to reflect on the impact and consequences of this mass enforced absence from school and the subsequent return to school. A number of very serious issues affecting children and young people were highlighted during the lockdown: an increase in mental health problems; the heightened dangers for children who suffer domestic abuse; the continued effects of digital exclusion; the effects of the absence from school; the move to home education and the rise in food insecurity. This short article will focus on two issues: absence from school during the lockdowns caused by the pandemic (and continued absence for some children in the transition from lockdown) and food insecurity for children and young people.

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https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/225952/