As of 2024, this group is no longer active

Sars-CoV-2 has taken a heavy toll on children and adolescents, not so much because of the infection itself but more because of the infection control measures affecting their education, health and well-being. Since March 2020 schools in Europe have been partially or totally closed over long periods in many countries.

To review the evidence and build an understanding of the effectiveness and adverse effects of infection prevention control and other measures implemented in school settings, the WHO Regional Office for Europe established a European regional Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of the TAG is to ensure that children’s lives and education are as unaffected and uninterrupted as possible, while ensuring the safety of children, educators and other school staff and keeping COVID-19 transmission under control. The TAG aims to identify findings from the emerging evidence to inform policy decisions in terms of education, social, development and health outcomes for children and adolescents.