The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a child’s right to education
Did you know that Article 28 of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child requires State Parties to recognise a child’s right to education?
Article 28 goes further to require that primary education is compulsory and should be made available freely.
In the Caribbean, for instance in Trinidad and Tobago, the Education Act defines compulsory school age as being 5–16 and places a duty upon parents to ensure children in this age group receive efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude by regular school attendance. Should a parent neglect or refuse to do so, and unless exempted, the parent is guilty of an offence and can be subjected to a fine of $75.00 TTD or placed on a bond of $300.00 TTD to ensure the child attends school.
Shockingly similar low-penalty offences also exist under the Education Act of Jamaica, where fines of $1.00; $4.00 and $10.00 are imposed respectively on the first three convictions, with the third conviction also carrying a 14-day prison sentence.
With the child’s right to education enshrined in legislation and an obligation, however small, placed on parents to ensure they access that education; how does this right fare in a COVID-19 pandemic?
On 12 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus a pandemic. Within weeks we saw the mass closure of schools and borders across the Caribbean. In Trinidad and Tobago schools were closed as the country went into its first full lockdown. Both children and parents were at home on what must have felt like a school holiday until we, along with the rest of the world, came to the dreaded realisation that the pandemic was not going away.
As the region began to chart its way forward in this new world where virtual attendance was becoming the norm, severe system failures were highlighted. For generations, the Caribbean functioned with limited implementation of technology, and now not only was access to devices a challenge, but online connectivity and even electricity were now issues.
What did this all mean for the children of our beloved region?
There is a Tibetan Proverb that goes “a child without an education is like a bird without wings.” Simply children cannot reach the heights they are meant to without their wings to take them there.
Throughout the Caribbean we saw systems being developed at a rapid pace to introduce online learning. Both teachers and students were thrown into a new world that they had no maps to navigate. They lived the principle of learning to swim by being thrown into the ocean; there was no time to get acclimatised before they were tossed into the water. In fact, we saw a system unlike any other, where there was a complete suspension of face-to-face learning at all levels.
The statistics from UNICEF indicated that on a global level more than 1.6 billion children and youths had their education disrupted with more than 80% of these being in developing countries.
UNICEF indicated that specifically across the Caribbean some 1.4 million children were affected by the closure of schools.
Despite the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the Caribbean, it has forced us to view access to technology as a crucial element in the development of the region’s education system.
We have seen our governments, NGOs and the private sector band together to help our nation’s children. For instance, in Trinidad and Tobago, at the start of the pandemic in 2020 there were approximately 65,000 students without access to electronic devices, but by January 2021 that figure was brought down to 30,000 students. In Jamaica approximately 600,000 students were given access to some form of distance learning content via online platforms, television, radio and printed packages.
Though an improvement was made in Trinidad and Tobago it was not good enough. On average 30,000 students were being denied their right to an education. They had their wings clipped and even though some measures were put in place to provide a level of learning, whether online or via printed packages, these students, who are already at the low end of the poverty scale, where illiteracy in the household is a reality for far too many, those systems were of little value.
What was the point of broadcasting a programme on television or radio when the child had no electricity to access it?
What was the use of a printed document when no adult in that child’s household could help them read and understand it?
The real fear for me is will these children’s wings ever grow back?
As I write these words my stomach sinks and my chest tightens because I grew up in a life of poverty and illiteracy. I recall studying by candlelight on occasion, crying when I was frustrated and could not understand and my mom comforting me though I knew she belittled herself for not being able to help. Without the education system at that time, where development of the internet and having computers were still novel, I would not be where I am today. Without my teachers noticing me despite my shy nature and working with me through my nursery, primary and secondary school days, what would my life look like today?
The value of our education system and the need for it to reach each and every child, especially those who need their education to build a new way of life, is close to my heart, because I was one of those 30,000 children. I would have been the one the system was failing and the COVID-19 pandemic would have cost me my entire future.
What can we do?
What is the point of laws, conventions and rights when poverty keeps you from benefiting from them?
The reality is we must all embrace technology; we must all stand up from whatever position we are in and help those who are in need. Let’s consider how we can offer support. I heard of teachers who were taking packages home to students and offering free classes to help students despite all the health risks that the pandemic poses. There was a young entrepreneur in a rural community offering his services for free to anyone who had an internet accessible device, such as a smartphone/tablet, wherein he would repair the device and if necessary, teach persons how to use them.
Remember to make an impact. The action does not have to be on a grand scale. Sometimes the biggest impact we can make is closest to us, right in our neighbourhoods, communities and countries.