Students are doing the hard work – governments should, too

The pandemic has brought to the fore systemic deficiencies affecting children’s education across the globe.

Like millions of other children, Mia Sulastri has been putting in extra effort to keep up with her studies. When her school in Indonesia closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 17-year-old travelled 24 kilometres by motorbike, four times a week, to find a phone signal to receive messages from her teachers and email back her assignments. Mia is one of the hundreds of students, parents and teachers Human Rights Watch has interviewed in 60 countries over the past year, to find out how they are trying to keep learning during COVID-19 school closures. We heard repeatedly that children – who tend to escape the more severe symptoms of COVID-19 – have had to sacrifice the education to which they are entitled. The school shutdowns are part of public efforts to help protect the health and save the lives of their families, friends, teachers and those in their communities.