By Fraser Institute ——Bio and Archives--September 7, 2023
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TORONTO—The prolonged COVID-19 school closures across Ontario from 2020 to 2022, imposed life-long costs on children, despite evidence available to policymakers early on that closures wouldn’t slow the transmission of COVID-19 and that the harms could outweigh any possible benefits, finds a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“There was information available to policymakers early on showing school closures would do more harm than good, but schools were closed up until 2022 anyway, and Canadian children will be paying for it the rest of their lives,” said Paige MacPherson, associate director of education policy at the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Forgotten Demographic: Assessing the Possible Benefits and Serious Cost of COVID-19 School Closures on Canadian Children.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, entire populations halted socializing, schooling and commerce. Quickly, however, data emerged regarding virus transmission and the realistic risks of COVID-19 by age, showing school closures were unnecessary. Further evidence showed they would have significant, negative effects on children’s academic performance and mental health:
“We won’t know the totality of the damage done by the school closures for some time, but what is clear is that governments didn’t use the best information available to them when deciding to close schools, and students have already suffered and will continue to pay the price,” MacPherson said.
Media Contact:
Paige MacPherson, Associate Director, Education Policy, Fraser Institute
To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Drue MacPherson, Fraser Institute
drue.macpherson@fraserinstitute.org
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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of 86 think-tanks. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit fraserinstitute.org.
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