Happy teachers' Day! Top children who were very impacted by the covid19 pandemic. part 1

Our Corona Voice Show is ongoing. 

Days in lockdown were an opportunity for children to reinvent ways of play and learning, exploring their immediate environment and making the most of what they had available.

Our today's guest is Meury. She will recite a very emotional Covid-19 poem for us all.

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet our poet Meury!

Covid-19

A disease that has attacked the whole world

And made the world its hostage.

The world has reached an extreme where tomorrow is uncertain

People now walk in fear of a faceless enemy 

An enemy that we don't see;

Before, going out was routine 

Now it became an extreme need

People don't just go out for leisure or just to have fun, 

People now go out for a need

They leave their houses because they have to fulfill an activity that can not be left for tomorrow or that can not be postponed

Now everything we do is cautious, 

We use a mask to protect ourselves

Before, we didn't have all this care,

 Because we didn't have a threat. Now that we have, 

We are giving importance to friendships, 

We are giving importance to being with someone we love.

Thank you.

Building resilience in children is one way we help them to cope in difficult moments.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is of a scale most people alive today have never seen. We're all currently facing unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19, and one of the most important things we can all do is check in with each other.

Back to school after lockdown. Campaign with preschool children - Angola.

 School closures caused by the pandemic exacerbated previously existing inequalities, and that children who were already most at risk of being excluded from a quality education have been most affected. Since the lockdown of primary school, pupils spend most of their time at home with their parents and siblings. Schools began locking down just when children started to feel safe in the classroom environment, began developing trust with their teachers, and started to enjoy their relationships with other children.

Many girls might not return to school 

Our first guest is an 8 years old girl, her name is Ruth and she will share with us her experiences during lock-downs and how coronavirus has affected her life. 

This little girl confessed that the coronavirus pandemic has delayed her life, she can't go to school, she doesn't see her teacher and her classmates for a long time. She's very sad about this situation.

To continue learning, she reviews all old homework assignments and reads books. 

She recommends that the governors should put in the schools water buckets with soap for students to wash their hands, create sanitary conditions and social distance.

For many households, lockdowns have seen incomes and savings disappear, meaning they will simply not be able to pay school fees — and where they can, boys may be prioritized.

“By trying to mitigate the risk of families falling into extreme poverty ... we hope to help mitigate the risk of those families keeping their children, especially their girls, out of school once they reopen.”

Click here to learn more: 

https://she-leads.blogspot.com/2020/09/africa-educates-her-campaign-is-live-in_20.html

Many children received no education after schools closed across the continent in March 2020.

Today we are talking to kids. Janio is no longer learning, he is only waiting for the reopening to continue with his studies.

1. Introduction

My name is Janio, I am Angolan, I am 7 years old and I am studying in the 2 class.

2. Now that schools have reopened, have you gone back to school?

No, because the government did not create conditions for preschool children to study.

3. What are the conditions you would like the government to create to ensure your safety at school?

I would like the government to provide water to wash our hands, to give me mask and alcohol gel and I also want them to create safe conditions for students.

That's all thanks!

Many children received no instruction, feedback, or interaction with their teachers. “Children are not taught during this period”. Although some students had received printed assignments, “We cannot say that this is normal education”.

Interview with Lanete

1. Introduction

Hello! My name is Lanete, I'm 11 years old, studying in the 5th grade and I'm Angolan.

2. Now that schools have reopened, have you gone back to school?

I didn't go back to school because of the pandemic covid-19.

3. How has covid-19 affected your student life?

Covid-19 affected me in many ways, I can no longer go to school, I cannot see my colleagues, I am not studying, I cannot see my teachers and so on.

4. What are the conditions you would like the government / school to create to ensure your safety at school?

I would like my school to create conditions like providing water to wash our hands, donation of masks, gloves and other biosafety equipment.

Children in Lockdown

COVID-19 has led to major disruptions to families' lives, through social distancing, closure of childcare settings and lockdown. Although schools have been reopening children were excluded from a quality education.

We decided to organize a special dedication program for our children who, due to coronavirus (COVID-19) lost their rights to go back to school.

Today we have a couple, David and Lanete. They will share with us their experiences during school closures.

Interview with David

1. Introduction

Hello! My name is David, I am 10 years old and I study in the 5th grade.

2. Why are you no longer going to school?

Because of the pandemic. The government did not create better conditions for preschool students to study.

3. How has covid-19 affected your student life?

The coronavirus affected me in several ways, I no longer go to school, I no longer have the supervision of the teachers, I no longer see my colleagues, I no longer go to the library and my scientific knowledge is declining.

4. What are the conditions you would like the government / school to create in order to ensure your safety at school?

I would like the school to impose measures such as hand washing with water and soap, to put an official at the main gate to measure our temperature, I also want the government to donate gloves, masks and alcohol gel.

5. Why do you want to go back to school?

I want to go back to school because I am a child and my duty is to study in order to increase my scientific knowledge and in the future I want to be the president of the country.

Interview with Joice

1. Introduction

Hello! My name is joice, I am 10 years old, I study in the fifth grade and I am Angolan.

2. Now that schools have reopened, have you gone back to school?

I didn't go back to class because of the coronavirus.

3. How has covid-19 affected your student life?

Well, the coronavirus affected my studies and I can't go out to play anymore.

However, in these free times I like to help people in need, I like to play, to read and I also like to go to the explanation with the tutor.

4. What are the measures you would like the government to create to ensure your safety at school?

Well, I want the government to distribute mask, alcohol gel and force the students to keep the social distance of 1 meter from each other.

Covid-19: Africa educates her campaign is on going- day 14

School closures harm girls in many ways, often with long-term consequences.

Our today's guest is a 15 years old Maria. She will share with us how covid-19 has affected her academic life. 

Coronavirus has affected me in many ways. I don't go to school anymore, I don't interact with my teachers and my colleagues, and it will also be an annulled academic year, lamented Maria.

In the question about what you have been doing to continue learning during the pandemic, she replied that she watches  tele-classes on TV, reviews old school materials, consults the dictionary, etc.

She also said that, the government should install piped water in schools, distribute biosafety materials, masks, gloves, soap and provide strict control of social distance between students, so they can study safe when schools reopen.

Governments should work with communities, school officials and teachers to monitor whether girls are participating in remote educational programs. If these initiatives are not reaching girls or if their families or communities are not prioritizing the girls ’education, they will need to intervene.

Governments should additionally provide information and services on sexual and reproductive health to adolescents. This includes making sure they can access a broad range of contraceptives, which respects their dignity and privacy.

When schools reopen, these efforts must continue. School officials and teachers should make sure that girls are returning. From now, governments should be tracking the numbers of children affected by school closures and provide gender disaggregated data to ensure they can act if a significant number of children do not return to school. 

Governments should develop measures to identify and assist those who have not returned, for example by providing financial assistance programs.

Now is also a good time for countries that exclude pregnant girls and adolescent mothers from school to reform those policies and develop human rights-compliant policies.

Education is not freely available to everyone - and in many parts of the world girls are the first to be excluded from it. Girls are the first to drop out of school, and the first to be failed by the system, facing the perils of early marriage, early pregnancy, and abuse. Without the choice to write their own futures, their endless potential is wasted.

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