COVID-19

18
Sep
2025
Research shows multiple impacts of COVID-19 school closures on adolescents

Research shows multiple impacts of COVID-19 school closures on adolescents

Source: University of Huddersfield

Research into the multiple impacts of COVID-19 school closures on adolescent well-being has been published in a key journal. The international study was led by the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education. Co-chair holder and University of Huddersfield academic, Dr Nicola Gray, who is renowned for her work on adolescent health, is the lead author of the study now published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Entitled Multiple Impacts on Adolescent Well-Being During COVID-19 School Closures: Insights From Professionals for Future Policy Using a Conceptual Framework, the research included notable academics in the field of adolescent health, including UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education co-chair holder Professor Didier Jourdan.

A consortium of partners composed of various research teams had input into the survey with data drawn from 60 interviews conducted in six languages with education and health professionals across 28 countries during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic amid school closures and re-openings in 2021.

Multiple impacts found

It found multiple, intersecting impacts of the pandemic on adolescent well-being and the potential for widening inequalities, making a case for caution regarding school closures in future health crises.

School closures were found to have impacted all five UN H6+ domains of adolescent well-being, which comprise good health and nutrition; connectedness; safety; learning; and agency/resilience.

The professionals reported that closures also widened inequalities for certain groups of students, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable.

The study concluded that education policies need to see schools as infrastructure that supports multiple aspects of adolescent well-being, not just as a teaching-learning system.

In addition, the authors asserted that during recovery from a pandemic, holistic strategies related to adolescent well-being, not just a focus on educational catch-up, are needed to mitigate the long-term consequences of any closures.

More than a place to learn

Dr Gray, Reader in Medicines and Health at the University of Huddersfield, commented:

“Schools are more than a place to learn. They provide welfare and connection for many students, as well as the means to a bright future. Policymakers must recognise multiple impacts of school closures on adolescent well-being and the potential for widening inequalities. The decision to close schools in any future crisis must be balanced against the damage it could do to young lives.”

On the back of the study, Dr Gray was asked by the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe to develop a factsheet detailing the impact of COVID-19 on education in the region, which she presented in June at a WHO/UNICEF webinar.

Dr Gray is also working on another paper on the same topic, to be published in a special issue of Public Health in Practice in the autumn. The paper was facilitated by WHO/Europe to support the development of a new WHO/UNICEF strategy on child and adolescent well-being for Europe and Central Asia. She will speak about this research at a webinar hosted by The Royal Society for Public Health on 22 October. The webinar is titled School is more than a place to learn: An intersectoral assessment of adolescent well-being prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the WHO European Region.

Posted by Didier in News
07
Apr
2025
Webinar School is more than a place to learn – 22 June 2025

Webinar School is more than a place to learn – 22 June 2025

School is more than a place to learn: An intersectoral assessment of adolescent well-being prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the WHO European Region

13:00 – 14:00 GMT, Wednesday 22th June 2025

Chaired by: Professor Ingrid Wolfe OBE, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Population Health, Consultant Paediatric Population Medicine, Kings College, London

Speakers: 

  • Dr. Nicola Gray, Co-Chair, UNESCO Chair ‘Global Health & Education’
  • Mary Cronin, Specialty Registrar in Public Health
  • Dr. Maximilian Limburg, Specialty Registrar in Public Health

A webinar supporting the development of a new WHO/UNICEF regional strategy for Child and Adolescent Health in Europe and Central Asia, as part of our Public Health in Practice Special Issue

This webinar will present a research study that examined changes in adolescent well-being across the WHO European Region following the Covid-19 pandemic. Adolescent well-being was assessed using the UN H6+ framework, which includes: 1) Good health and optimal nutrition, 2) Connectedness, positive values, and societal contribution, 3) Safety and a supportive environment, 4) Learning, competence, education, skills, and employability, and 5) Agency and resilience. Secondary analysis of data from two large datasets concerning adolescents, the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), revealed a decline in well-being across European countries from 2018 (pre-pandemic) to 2022 (post-pandemic). Additionally, the study highlighted a significant widening of educational inequalities in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Key Issues for Debate:

  1. How can we prevent existing inequalities in educational attainment from widening?
  2. How can we improve our data collection strategies about school closure impact for future health crises?
  3. What would an intersectoral strategy on adolescent well-being look like, to minimize the impact of future emergency measures?

More information and registration

Posted by Didier in News
14
Apr
2022
Intersectoral working during the COVID-19 pandemic in schools

Intersectoral working during the COVID-19 pandemic in schools

Preliminary results of the global survey on safe reopening of schools

The second survey on the safe reopening of schools was active from February to October 2021. The aim of this survey was to gather the experiences and opinions of education and health professionals about the processes in place in their countries and territories to reopen schools safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to keep them open. With the collaboration of our Consortium partners, the survey has been disseminated all around the world in seven languages (Arabic, English, French, German, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish), which resulted in contributions from 72 countries.

Many themes are covered by the survey: the implementation of infection control measures in schools, the impact of infection control measures (on students and staff), the guidance and training received, the enablers and barriers to reopening schools and intersectoral working in schools. As a first step, we are glad to share the preliminary results on intersectoral collaboration and training on the UNESCO Chair website.

Posted by Didier in News
10
Mar
2022
UNICEF report: Preventing a lost decade

UNICEF report: Preventing a lost decade

Two years into the pandemic, the widespread effects of COVID-19 continue to worsen, increasing poverty and deepening inequalities. While some countries are recovering and rebuilding a ‘new normal’, for many, COVID-19 remains a crisis. The human rights of children around the world have not been so threatened for more than a generation.

The global response so far has been very uneven and inadequate. The world now stands at a crossroads. The actions taken today will determine the well-being and rights of children for years to come.

As UNICEF celebrates its 75th anniversary, the report “Preventing a lost decade. Urgent action to reverse the devastating impact of COVID-19 on children and young people” takes stock of the effects of the ongoing impact of  COVID-19 on children and outlines the road to respond and recover to reimagine the future for every child.

For more information and to download the report (available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic)

Posted by Didier in News
26
Oct
2021
Antidote COVID-19 game launched by WHO and Psyon Games

Antidote COVID-19 game launched by WHO and Psyon Games

WHO and Psyon Games jointly launched a new tower defense game called the Antidote COVID-19 to turn complex, scientific information into a fun learning experience. During the course of the game, players will learn about their immune system, pathogens, vaccines and how to protect themselves from COVID-19.

The game comes at a critical point of the pandemic where misinformation is hindering COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and adherence to other public health measures due to fear, mistrust and doubt. By putting players in the driver’s seat, the game urges everyone to play a role in fighting harmful misinformation online, and learning and sharing the facts from trusted sources of information.

The game starts just before the pandemic begins. The player is recruited to halt the spread of SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, by developing vaccines and helping the human immune system fight off the virus. Based on real events, this online adventure takes the player to the frontline of science, ultimately providing lifesaving information in the palms of their hands. 

More information and to download the game

Posted by Didier in News
16
Sep
2021
Webinar Strategies for School Health Promotion during COVID-19 – 30 September 2021

Webinar Strategies for School Health Promotion during COVID-19 – 30 September 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted schools all over the world. Schools in many countries closed in haste and had to create virtual learning opportunities for their students. The reopening of schools is taking place in various speeds and with different guidance at national and/or local level.

The UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education gathered the experiences and opinions of education and health professionals about  reopening schools safely and/or to keeping them open. The survey explored the public health measures that have been put in place in schools; communication of guidance at national and/or local level, and the facilitators or barriers to safe reopening. Nicola Gray (Affiliated researcher, UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education; Senior Lecturer, University of Huddersfield, UK) will provide a preview of the results of this survey on the safe reopening of schools during COVID-19. 

The WHO-Europe Technical Advisory Group for schooling during COVID-19 recommends that ‘the principles of health-promoting schools (HPS) are even more important in a pandemic’. However, moving from recognition of HPS values to putting these into practice is challenging. Veronica Velasco (Assistant professor, Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy) wrote a new document on School Health Promotion during COVID-19 for the Schools for Health in Europe network (SHE). The relevance of the HPS approach during the COVID-19 pandemic will be discussed and implementation strategies based on the HPS approach will be presented.

During this webinar the experts will explore the following questions:

  1. What are the experiences of education and health professionals around the world concerning the safe reopening of schools?
  2. Why is the HPS approach relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic and how can HPS be implemented?
  3. What can we learn to better prepare schools for future epidemics and disasters?

This webinar is organised by the Schools for Health in Europe Network Foundation (SHE), the UNESCO Chair Global Health & Education, the University of Huddersfield and the University of Milano-Bicocca.

The webinar will take place on 30 September 2021 from 14.00 – 15.00 CEST.

Join the webinar. This webinar will also be broadcasted live on our YouTube channel.

More information

Posted by Didier in News
06
Sep
2021
Involve children and young people in assessing the impact of school closures on their wellbeing and developing strategies for post-COVID-19 schooling

Involve children and young people in assessing the impact of school closures on their wellbeing and developing strategies for post-COVID-19 schooling

Article published in MDPI on 5 September 2021

Nearly 200 countries have implemented school closures to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Although these closures have seemed necessary, there have been serious concerns about their effects on the well-being of children and adolescents. To truly understand the impact of these closures on children’s and adolescent’s well-being, and their suggestions for the future, it is important to adopt new approaches to collecting data that will ensure the right of children and adolescents to be heard on issues that affect them.

Current methods of assessing the impacts of school closure are dominated by the collection of information about children and adolescents, mainly using existing wellbeing indicators and related questionnaire surveys. While these sources of information are important, they provide only a limited understanding of how children and adolescents have experienced school closure, especially if they have been produced using measures developed solely by adults. There is a need for information produced by children and adolescents themselves, which may need to go beyond existing theoretical frameworks of wellbeing that predate COVID-19.

By gathering information from children and adolescents, the authors of this paper[1] show that we can more effectively guide the development and evaluation of public health policies and identify solutions to mitigate the negative impacts of school closures, or to recognise and respond to any positive effects.

Read the article

[1] Paakkari, L., Jourdan, D., Inchley, J., & Torppa, M. (2021). The Impact of School Closure on Adolescents’ Wellbeing, and Steps toward to a New Normal : The Need for an Assessment Tool Update? Adolescents, 1(3), 360‑362. https://doi.org/10.3390/adolescents1030027

Posted by Didier in News
15
Jul
2021
COVID-19 in children and the role of school settings in transmission – second update

COVID-19 in children and the role of school settings in transmission – second update

ECDC has recently published the report ‘COVID-19 in children and the role of school settings in transmission – second update’, which revises our current understanding of the role that children play in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and the role of schools in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of this document is to provide an update on the knowledge surrounding the role of children in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the role of schools in the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing in particular on the experience in EU/EEA countries since the beginning of the pandemic.

Children of all ages are susceptible to COVID-19 and can transmit the disease. However, cases of COVID-19 in younger children do not appear to cause onward transmission as often as cases in older children and adults. Children aged between one and 18 years of age have much lower rates of hospitalisation and severe disease requiring intensive hospital care than other age groups.

Although school closures could contribute to a reduction in COVID-19 transmission as a measure of last resort, the closures in themselves are insufficient to prevent community transmission in the absence of other non-pharmaceutical interventions. Moreover, vaccination coverage is now also increasing. Given the continued risk of transmission among unvaccinated children, it is imperative that there is a high level of preparedness in educational systems for the school year 2021−2022.

By the time schools reopen for the new school year, children and adolescents will have become the age groups with the lowest rates of COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). Therefore, in the absence of strict adherence to effective public health mitigation measures, concentrated circulation of COVID-19 is to be expected, including outbreaks in this age group.

For more information and access to the full report

Posted by Didier in News
15
Jul
2021
Third High-level Meeting on Schooling during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Third High-level Meeting on Schooling during the COVID-19 Pandemic

On 2 July 2021, the Third High-level Meeting on Schooling during the COVID-19 Pandemic was held, organized by WHO/Europe, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The WHO European Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic shared new recommendations with the best available evidence and expert advice on safe schooling during the pandemic.

Schooling and COVID-19

COVID-19 has disrupted schooling for millions of children and young people during the school year 2020–2021. After reopening schools in the autumn of 2020, rising infection rates in winter led to more stringent measures, including, in some areas, the closure of schools.

These measures have serious effects on the education, development, and social and mental well-being of children and adolescents – both in the short- and long-term. Children and adolescents in the WHO European Region have missed on average more than 30 weeks of schooling due to school closures.

This third high-level meeting followed previous meetings held in August and December 2020, and presented an updated version of the TAG recommendations, including updates on how to keep schools open, testing strategies in school settings, risk-mitigation measures and infection control, and vaccination strategies, among others.

In addition to sharing the updated recommendations, the meeting was meant to support countries in planning measures over the summer months, so as to minimize school disruptions in the academic year 2021–2022.

As a member of the TAG, Prof. Didier Jourdan contributed to the discussion by presenting the first results of the UNESCO Chair’s global survey on the safe reopening of schools.

More information about the event

Recommendations from the European Technical Advisory Group for schooling during COVID-19 (March 2021)

 

Posted by Didier in News
22
Jun
2021
Survey: How are we using participatory research to learn about children and young people’s perspectives during the COVID 19 pandemic?

Survey: How are we using participatory research to learn about children and young people’s perspectives during the COVID 19 pandemic?

In response to the challenges that COVID-19 has presented to participatory researchers around the world, researchers from the University of Melbourne and University College Dublin prepared a short survey, based on a focus group that was held during the ICPHR Virtual Annual Working Meeting 2020.  

The goal is to promote dialogue and shared learning on how researchers and practitioners are using participatory research to listen to children and young people’s perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what digital tools may help them facilitate their collaboration with child and young co-researchers.

Participating in this study requires you to answer a short online survey. The survey is available in English and Spanish (you can change the language using the button in the top right corner of the survey).

For more information about this study and to access the online survey, please use the following link: http://go.unimelb.edu.au/fk4i

Posted by Didier in News