Schools should be open for as long as possible to students and teachers in the current phase of the coronavirus pandemic. This is stated in the latest recommendations on education during COVID-19, prepared by experts from the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

WHO encourages the use of summer vacations to prepare for the next school year, not remotely, but directly at school.

"The summer months give us an invaluable opportunity to take action to help reduce the level of infection. This, in turn, will allow us not to close schools, because, as we have seen, such closures have a very negative impact not only on education, but also on the social and mental well-being of children and youth, "said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. . - "Along with the spread of new strains of the virus, the presence of unvaccinated employees in schools means that time should not be wasted. We cannot allow the pandemic to deprive children of opportunities to learn and develop. ”

“Distance education does not allow to carry out a perfect educational process. Over the past year, parents, teachers and students have been able to partially adapt to the new learning environment, but we cannot allow another year to pass, ”said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.

The updated recommendations of the experts of the WHO Regional Office for Europe include eight main theses: the use of rapid tests for the presence of viruses and antibodies in schools as much as possible; to conduct a number of studies aimed at assessing the effectiveness of existing infection control measures; to take care of the protection of the relevant level of education, as well as the mental and social well-being of schoolchildren; to take into account the needs of children living in difficult conditions; to properly prepare the school environment for a safe pedagogical process in a pandemic; to involve children in the decision-making process at the school level; develop effective vaccination strategies in schools; The main common goal is to ensure the opening and further operation of schools.

The authors of the recommendations note that the closure of schools should be considered as a last resort - when there are large outbreaks and the epidemic cannot be managed in any other way.

The rapid spread of the coronavirus in the 2020-2021 school year had a serious negative impact on school education throughout the European region: in April last year, during the peak of the pandemic, 44 out of 53 countries closed schools across the country. Despite the reopening of schools in most countries in the summer of 2020, the increase in infection rates in the autumn and winter months has led to tougher measures in dozens of countries, including the reopening of schools.

Studies in some WHO member states have shown that in the winter of 2020, the number of coronavirus infections among schoolchildren was lower than in the general population, and the rate of re-infection in schools was less than one percent.