Ranking students by academic performance has been condemned as discriminatory and racist, yet New Zealand still leaves it up to individual schools to decide.
When water stagnates in pipes, harmful metals and bacteria can accumulate and make people sick. Buildings that were shut down for weeks during the pandemic may be at risk.
The World Health Organisation now recommends children aged 12 years and older wear masks and that masks should be considered for those aged 6-11 years.
School nurses were already overwhelmed, with hundreds of students and staff in their charge. Now, COVID-19 screenings and testing have become their priority.
New research points to why reopening elementary schools is the safest bet and what else needs to happen for schools to have the best chance of staying open.
Pandemic policy experts offer 10 recommendations that could reduce the risk that a bad flu season on top of the COVID-19 pandemic will overwhelm hospitals.
Any decision that places a child’s physical and mental health at risk shouldn’t be taken lightly, so policy-makers and parents alike should listen to those most affected — the children themselves.
Concerns over how to make schools safe amid the coronavirus remain. But for many low-income students of color, old buildings in need of repair already presented a heath risk.
We should make more use of randomised controlled trials – usually used in medicine – to understand which measures were effective in controlling COVID-19.
Research suggests that children are less likely than adults to catch the virus, pass it on or fall seriously ill because of it. A progressive return of children to school is therefore advisable.