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Schools are reopening across Guinea after seven months of closure due to the Ebola crisis.
Hundreds of children who have missed out on lessons since July 2014 are returning to classes to continue their studies.
Child rights organisation Plan International welcomes the news, urging international governments to provide expertise and funding to support Ebola-affected countries in re-opening schools responsibly.
Francis Sala-Diakanda Country Director of Plan in Guinea, said that the re-opening of Guinea’s schools is a boost for children across the nation.
“The Ebola crisis has forced many schools to close across the affected countries. As a result, children’s education has been severely interrupted and their learning needs unmet for several months.
“Children who are out of school and those who have become orphaned are at risk of early and forced marriage and other forms of abuse and exploitation, including child labour. “
Official estimates put the death toll from Ebola at 8429 people (WHO, 14 January 2015) across Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The death rate is slowing, but thousands of children have been orphaned by the virus, with many now unable to pay the fees to return to school.
“There aren’t many pupils this morning, but I'm happy to come back at school,” said Sayon Camara, a pupil in Kissidougou, one of the Ebola-affected areas.
“Given that many children have lost almost a year of education, measures should be devised to ensure children are not disadvantaged, and are able to catch up on lost learning,” added Sala-Diakanda.
“This may include declaring 2014 a ‘revision’ year, and allocating some time for health messaging and psycho-social support during this new school year.”
There are also reports that schools will re-open in Liberia next month, six months after classrooms closed in September 2014.
President Ellen Sirleaf announced in early January that schools will re-open on 2nd February 2015.
In Sierra Leone, where schools are not planning to reopen yet, Plan has been helping to develop radio programmes to reach those missing out.
The charity is also supplying 22,500 solar radios to some of the poorest children, especially girls, so they can tune in.
Most schools remain closed due to the impact and restrictions caused by Ebola, severely affecting the education of millions of children.
ENDS
Editor’s notes:
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Founded in 1937, Plan is one of the world’s oldest and largest children's development organisations. Plan works in 51 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas to promote child rights and lift millions of children out of poverty. Plan is independent, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations. www.plan-international.org
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Plan has been working in Guinea since 1989, helping poor children to access their rights to education, health, sanitation and protection. The organisation has 34,000 sponsored children spread over 65 communities across the country.
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Plan has been working in Sierra Leone since 1976, helping poor children to access their rights to education, health, livelihood, sanitation and protection. Plan’s programmes benefit 700,000 children in 1,126 communities across the country.
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Plan has been working in Liberia since 1982. The organisation works in partnership with the communities and the government to ensure poor children have access to quality education, good health and adequate sanitation, and that they are well protected. The organisation has 12,250 sponsored children spread over 176 communities in its programme areas.
Media contacts:
Samory Conde
Communications & Public Relations Manager, Plan Guinea
Tel: +224 664 00 00 04 - +224 631 40 59 42 | Mobile: +224 662 999 672
Jane Labous
Press Officer (Africa)
Plan, International HQ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1483 733 330 | Mobile: +44 (0)7540 048 494
