Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children

By the end of March 2020, UNESCO estimated that over 89% of the world's student population was out of school or university due to closures aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19.[6] This raised serious concerns regarding the social, economic, and educational impacts of protracted school closures on students.[7][8][9][10] In addition, school closures disproportionately affect children from low-income or minority families, children with disabilities, and young women, due to disparities in access to distance education, unequal distribution of increased child-care and domestic responsibilities, and the fact that school subsidized meal programs and vaccinations are cornerstones of child healthcare for many families.[5] For example, school closures during the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa increased school dropouts, rates of child labor, violence against children, and teen pregnancies.[11]

A comprehensive global study (Aristovnik et al., 2020) provides systematic meaningful insights into students’ satisfaction and perception of different aspects of their lives during the first wave of the pandemic, including their opinions on the immediate and distant future. The study found that teaching staff and universities’ public relations offered students the most important support at the university during the pandemic. On the other hand, the lack of computer skills and the perception of a relatively higher workload prevented students from perceiving a higher performance while adapting to the ‘new normal’; namely, education from a distance.

During the lockdown, students primarily raised concerns about their future professional career[12] and study issues and were mainly bored, anxious, and frustrated. They also changed some of their hygienic behaviours such as regularly wearing masks and washing hands, and daily routine habits like leaving home and shaking hands.

While the role of both hospitals and universities appears to be positive, governments and banks did not meet the students’ expectations during the pandemic.

Socio-demographic (and geographic) factors also played an important role in the students’ perception of different aspects of academic work/life. The empirical results suggest that the transition from onsite to online lectures due to the COVID-19 crisis had a stronger effect on males, part-time students, undergraduate students, applied sciences students, students with a lower living standard, and students from less developed regions (in Africa and Asia), while the pandemic generally had a greater effect on students who were female, full-time, undergraduate and had financial problems with respect to their emotional life and personal circumstances. The results also demonstrate that more hopeful and less bored students, students who were more satisfied with their academic work/life, social science students, students with a better living standard (with a scholarship and/or the ability to pay the overall costs of study), and those who were studying in Europe showed greater satisfaction with the role and measures of their university during the COVID-19 crisis.[13]

This global crisis is exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and inequalities experienced by young people, amplified in humanitarian contexts where fragility, conflict, and emergencies have undermined institutional capacity and where there is limited access to services.[3][22] Particularly affected are: young migrants; young people who are internally displaced or refugees; young people living in poor, high-density urban areas; young people without a home; young people living with disabilities; and those living with HIV. Young people separated from, unaccompanied, or left behind by migrant working parents face higher risks of exploitation, violence, and mental health issues, as well as poor access to health services and protection.[3][22][23]