THE Covid -19 pandemic has impacted disproportionately on our young people.

Even with awe-inspiring efforts by teaching staff to create access to curriculum online and the heroic support of parents’ home schooling, the best part of a year of their education has been disrupted.

Decimated household budgets have impacted on the health and welfare of too many. One in four now live in poverty. A lot have suffered unexpected bereavement. Many are experiencing mental illness.

In headline-grabbing announcements, statisticians have projected huge average losses of a young person’s future earnings which must further threaten their hopes and aspirations. Press and politicians have unashamedly started to refer to them as ‘the lost generation’. How dare they?

Education is a basic human right of every person; not only the education provided in schools, but the education of good example from parents, carers and community. It is our responsibility to ensure their right is fulfilled.

There is no time to waste. Government must act now. As the successful vaccination rollout gathers pace and we have hope of a way forward, it is time to prioritise the needs of each of our young people. As has happened with each stage of this challenge, we need to ‘do all it takes’ to support and fund extra scholastic tutoring and mental health support wherever it is needed.

Instead of the focus being on exams and the usual symbols of educational success, why not take time to give every young person a personal assessment? With their teachers and carers’ co-operation, work out a funded ‘prescription’ of what tutoring and support they personally need to swiftly get them back on track. No child should be left behind.

It will require a substantial investment, but it is in our own interests. The young people of today are the work force of tomorrow. Where will we find our nurses, teachers, lawyers, builders and plumbers of the future? Who will provide care for us when we need it?

If we don’t invest now, and invest heavily, we will all be the losers.