Last year's school closures had a range of negative effects on children a report from the office of the Ombudsman for Children has stated.
As well as a negative effect on a child’s right to education, which disproportionately impacted those children already experiencing educational disadvantage, the closures also led to the disruption of vital health services provided in schools, such as the school immunisation programme, hearing, vision and dental checks, as well as the School Meals Programme, the report finds.
The mental health and wellbeing of children was also affected as well as their social and emotional development in the case of some.
While the closures also contributed to an increased risk of children experiencing harm and abuse, including domestic violence, they also led to reduced opportunities for school-based professionals to recognise and report child protection and welfare concerns.
The study focussed on children in five categories: those experiencing mental health difficulties, children who are homeless, children living in Direct Provision, children with disabilities, and Traveller and Roma children. The CRIA found that these groups of children are among those whose rights were disproportionately impacted by the school closures.
Commenting on the findings, Head of Policy at the OCO, Dr Karen McAuley, said the Child Rights Impact Assessment was a snapshot in time that aimed to capture how children's rights were impacted by the decision to close schools in 2020 and in early 2021.
"While all children were impacted, our CRIA found that the closures had a disproportionately negative impact on the five groups of children focused on, and that not enough consideration was given to their specific needs when the initial blanket decision was made to close schools in March 2020", Dr McAuley said.
"As such, our CRIA not only highlights the need for the State to give due regard to children’s rights when making decisions, including in emergency situations, but also to consider what special measures are needed".
The Ombudsman for Children’s Office was one of 13 organisations that took part in a joint project between the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children and UNICEF to conduct a pilot CRIA on the impact of Covid-19 measures on children’s rights.
The OCO’s CRIA was carried out between April and October 2021, and consisted of a desk-based review of relevant national and international documentation, as well as interviews with several key stakeholder organisations.
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One Childrens Minister Roderic O'Gorman said school closures during the pandemic were "an extremely difficult time" for children and it was the most vulnerable children who suffered the most from those closures.
He said Government recognised the impact of the closures took the decision to keep schools open at Christmas and that was the right decision at the time.
He said that in the future, they need to ensure that provision is made across all childcare and schools for the most vulnerable children, irrespective of the public health situation.
He also said they are hoping to open a number of new youth services across the country this year.
"So while recognising that undoubtedly Covid has been extremely difficult for children and young people, particularly the most vulnerable, there are a range of measures being taken across Government in education, in early years, in Tusla and across youth services to provide supports and to look to make up the losses that young people have suffered."
