“No relation between opening schools and spread of coronavirus”, says World Bank Education Director – Education News

According to the World Bank’s Global Education Director Mr. Saavedra, there is no relation between opening schools and spread of coronavirus or there is no justification now for keeping schools closed in view of the pandemic and even if there are new waves, closing schools should be the last resort.

Saavedra, whose team has been tracking the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector, says there is no evidence that reopening schools has caused a surge in coronavirus cases and that schools are not a “safe place”. He also asserted that it does not make sense from public-policy perspective to wait till children are vaccinated as there is “no science” behind it.

“There is no relation between opening schools and spread of coronavirus. There is no evidence linking the two and there is no justification now to keep the schools closed” Saavedra said, adding that “It does not make sense to keep restaurants, bars and shopping malls open and keep schools closed. There is no excuse.” According to various simulations by the World Bank, health risks for children if schools are opened are low and the cost of the closure is extremely high.

“During 2020, we were navigating in a sea of ignorance. We just didn’t know what is the best way of combating the pandemic and the immediate reaction of most countries in the world was let’s close schools. Time has passed since then and with evidence coming in from late 2020 and 2021, we have had several waves and there are several countries which have opened schools,” he said.

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