Children and young people belong to a group that was one of the most affected groups during the pandemic. Schools were closed, children learned from home and young people lacked natural socialization in the school environment. This puts us in third place in the OECD rankings, just behind Costa Rica and Colombia. We had the longest closed schools. However, according to the UNESCO rankings, we have improved a lot. This ranking monitors the situation in schools from the beginning of the pandemic until today.

They promised 25, but only got 5: Parents lack self-test! The interest is great, but the resort is preparing another wave

We were the third country with the longest closed schools

In the report on the state of the republic, President Zuzana Čaputová states that the majority of children and young people have lost their usual way of life almost completely. “Not only have they suffered from the team, but they cannot be adequately educated, but their social relationships have been broken from day to day. Despite the often repeated slogan that schools should close last and open first in a pandemic, Slovakia closes three OECD countries with the longest closed schools in 2020 – only Costa Rica and Colombia are ahead of us. “ she stated.

From February 2020 to March 2021, all kindergartens, primary and secondary schools were open for only 28 days. However, that changed after the end of the second wave, and schools reopened their gates in May. “I therefore want to appreciate the change in approach to covid measures this school year,” stated.

“As a result of these changes and the trauma that society has gone through, the number of children with anxiety or depression has been worrying. they may become generational, ” deliver.

Slovakia has improved

However, the OECD ranking, which mentions the President in his speech, takes into account the statistics for 2020. We have improved since then. The OECD also relied on data United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This organization collects information on closed schools from the beginning of the orc 2020 pandemic to the present.

Source: UNESCO

According to overall UNESCO data, Slovakia has had partially or fully closed schools for 38 weeks in the last two school years. Like Slovakia – 38 weeks of partial or complete closure of schools – Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Montenegro are on it.

Among our neighbors, only Ukraine was better off, with schools closed for 27 weeks. Other countries were worse off. In Austria and Hungary, schools were closed for 39 weeks, in Poland 43 and in the Czech Republic 46. Among the V4 countries, we had schools open for the longest time. This result was mainly due to the opening of schools in the spring of 2021, when schools were closed elsewhere.

The recorders so far are Uganda and India

As for other countries, Latvia, Slovenia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Greece, Northern Macedonia, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, China, Turkey, the Scandinavian country and several African countries are better off. The OECD has issued a new publication that monitors the situation in schools during the 18 months of the pandemic (from 1 January 2020 to 20 May 2021).

Source: OECD

Source: OECD

In the overall ranking of countries with the longest closed schools, Slovakia is no longer at the top (in the top 30). Mexico, Poland, Costa Rica, Hungary and the Czech Republic were in the top five. As for the current data, the recorder is Uganda with 72 weeks and India with 69 weeks, followed by the Latin American countries, followed by Iraq with 62 weeks and the United States and Mexico with 58 weeks.

Source: OECD

What does this number mean?

Statistics for the period of “closed schools” also count the weeks when, for example, only a part of schools was closed. In Slovakia, for example, the operation of kindergartens, primary schools or special schools was continuously allowed for several weeks. If part of the schools was closed at this time, count the week in this period. This applies, for example, to the period when only secondary schools were closed in Slovakia, or when schools were opened according to the color of the district.