Plan International [to 3 January 2014]
http://plan-international.org/about-plan/resources/media-centre

Children’s futures impacted due to Ebola school closures
29 December 2014:
Children in Ebola-stricken Liberia are playing, working or begging to fill their time while schools are closed, according to Plan International.

The virus has kept schools shut for more than five months, in a country which already suffered from limited learning facilities and trained teachers, as well as a high illiteracy rate.
New research from Plan shows that a cohort of children and youth will lose half a year or more of education, which is expected to affect their prospects in life, as well as dent their confidence and self-esteem.

The report, entitled Young Lives on Lockdown: The impact of Ebola on children and communities in Liberia, says that while teachers and older children are continuing to teach their children and sibling at home, the majority of parents are themselves uneducated and thus cannot give their children home schooling.

“Most parents cannot read or write so they cannot help their children at home, and at the same time they don’t let other people come to their houses to conduct lessons for them or let their children out for even 30 minutes,” said one community leader interviewed for the research.

Once schools do re-open, parents worry they will not have the money to pay their children’s fees. “Schools will reopen but there’s no money to put kids in school,” said another community leader, speaking to researchers…