KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 ― After having attended home-based online classes for months, Alina felt nervous at the thought of returning to school.
Fortunately for Alina, a neighbour came to know of her plight and reported the matter to the authorities. The girl is now in safe hands. Unicef Malaysia Chief of Child Protection Sarah Norton-Staal said even before Covid-19, children and young people carried the burden of mental health conditions without significant investment in addressing them.
Some children will struggle to learn in a classroom setting, trying to catch up with lessons they were not able to follow online. And, some children may have also developed other challenging emotional or behavioural problems, according to Unicef Malaysia Child Protection Specialist Selvi Supramaniam.
“This includes extending support to them through tele-counselling and PFA and imparting positive parenting skills. Specialised mental health support is also extended to children with disabilities, among others,” said Selvi. Azlina said there are also risks to children being online, especially when unsupervised, and these include exposure to online sexual abuse, cyberbullying, risk-taking online behaviour and potentially harmful content, as well as privacy issues.
Yes n our MOE has been a faliure opening up schools.