In-person education must be prioritized throughout pandemic: Paediatricians

OTTAWA – Governments at all levels must make in-person schooling a priority in the coming months. Although shutting down schools early on helped change the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the extended closures caused unintended harms to children and youth who missed out on critical opportunities, services and safeguards.

To keep community transmission low, governments must look at the role of non-essential settings like bars, restaurants, and banquet halls. The risk of harm from further disruptions to the school year far outweighs their risk of illness.

“As front-line care providers, we have seen the drastic impacts to mental health that isolation has had on children and – in particular – vulnerable, racialized and Indigenous youth,” said Dr. Sam Wong, President of the Canadian Paediatric Society. “Children have already sacrificed so much to help flatten to curve – it’s time to make their needs our priority.”

To ensure that schools can remain open, the CPS is calling on all levels of government to:

• Take appropriate and aggressive measures to stem community spread; if tighter restrictions are needed, non-essential gathering places should be closed before schools are considered
• Consult with paediatric health and infectious diseases experts to develop mitigation strategies that minimize disruption to school schedules
• Encourage schools to safely maintain and adapt non-academic activities that enrich students’ well-being
• Regularly seek student perspectives on measures that impact them, such as online learning, cohorting, masking, and physical distancing
• Support continued research and surveillance on the epidemiology of COVID-19 in children and youth, and the effects of the pandemic on their health and well-being, with a particular focus on children and youth from racialized, Indigenous and vulnerable communities.

“It’s time to put kids first, otherwise we risk long-term consequences for a generation of Canadians that we have yet to fully appreciate,” continued Dr. Wong.

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Read the full CPS statement and recommendations here.