The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is disrupting education of hundreds of thousands of children in the most affected areas, as thousands of schools still lack basic hygiene facilities and other measures needed to protect children from infection.
With infections spreading to eight provinces so far, the outbreak is compounding the disruption caused by years of conflict and displacement in the country.
Schools across the country are struggling with inadequate hygiene and limited support for children coping with fear and anxiety, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), an independent humanitarian organization.
"The Ebola outbreak is a crisis within a crisis. The education of some of the children has been disrupted already for several months in some of the regions either because of the conflict or because of displacement. So, right now in the areas affected by the Ebola outbreak, we have approximately 5,700 schools in which we don't have enough measures put in place to ensure that the schools are being a safe space for the children," said Anastassia Chkolenok, spokeswoman for the NRC.
In the eastern province of Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak, some schools are reporting low student attendance as parents keep their children at home out of fear that they could catch the virus at school.
Aid agencies are working with schools to ease those fears and encourage children back into the classroom.
"NRC, in the different schools, has a program called the Better Learning Program, which is here to support the children with some anxiety and stress relief activities to make sure that our colleagues are hearing the children's concerns and they can respond to them to make sure that they feel safe enough to come to school and continue with their education," said Chkolenok.
However, misinformation about Ebola and insecurity are complicating the efforts to reach affected communities.
The DRC government says it is working with international partners to address those challenges and strengthen the healthcare system.
"Our healthcare system was already fragile to begin with, so the idea is now to strengthen the entire system -- by establishing sustainable mechanisms as part of our efforts to achieve universal health coverage," said Samuel-Roger Kamba, DRC Health Minister.
The Ebola outbreak has not only disrupted children's education in the DRC but also upended their livelihoods. A recent report by UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, says over 1,900 children have lost or been separated from one or both of their parents or caregivers since the outbreak was declared in May.
As of Friday, the DRC had recorded 9,415 confirmed cases, including 4,536 deaths, since the outbreak began in May, representing a case fatality rate of 48.2 percent.
Ituri accounts for more than 73 percent of all confirmed cases nationwide, followed by neighboring North Kivu Province.
The outbreak has become the largest and deadliest ever recorded in the DRC and the second-largest Ebola outbreak globally, after the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic.
Ebola threatens childhood education in DR Congo
