The role of social work in the field of education during COVID-19

The current crisis caused by COVID-19 has radically changed the lives of millions of people around the world. When a situation of risk for a community or a large number of people occurs, whether it is a social or health emergency or a disaster, the involvement of specialized professionals is necessary.

Social work professionals can perform multiple functions due to the complexity and dimensions of reality that exist in society. Their actions are focused on the solution of social problems and social change, which is a very extensive area of intervention, prevention, and assistance (Fernández et al., 2012).

The coronavirus pandemic has significantly increased the urgency of addressing the social needs of the population, and social workers play a very important role in this emergency context in all areas, including education (Austin et al., 2016; Ferguson, 2017; Jani et al., 2016).

The situation caused by COVID-19 has meant the suppression of activity at all levels of education in most countries and has forced the population to be confined to their homes. Therefore, social workers must guarantee the educational community their support, through telematic means, to ensure the social protection of school-age minors.

The needs of students with social problems or in situations of risk must be responded to by carrying out prevention, evaluation, intervention, and follow-up work, in coordination with educational and community resources. Support must be offered to those in vulnerable situations and barriers that limit learning and the acquisition of skills must be eliminated, ensuring compliance with the principle of non-discrimination, social justice, and full participation of all students, regardless of their social and cultural status, gender, or personal characteristics.

Education cannot be separated from social policies for the construction of a cohesive and just society, where an inclusive social model is proposed that provides an educational response to all students. Having social workers in the school makes possible preventive actions and specialized intervention in situations of lack of protection, problems of social disadvantage, and educational inequality.

In this situation caused by the COVID-19 it is even more necessary for social workers to act:

Through phone calls or video calls with the reference persons, students in situations of vulnerability must be followed up in order to identify their needs and whether support or protection is required.

Schools should be offered the availability of social workers to support students, teachers, and families who require it, providing different means of contact.

Social workers should maintain their actions coordinated with the multi-professional and educational guidance teams, assessing in each case the priority and the most appropriate modality of intervention.

In the case of exceptional situations, they should go to the homes in person, using the necessary protection measures against contagion.

In all non-presential interventions, privacy and personal data protection criteria must be followed for students, families, and teachers. Good practice based on professional deontology, law, and ethics must be followed at all times.

In addition, special monitoring will have to be carried out for students who had a school lunch grant that guaranteed their daily sustenance and who, in the face of this crisis, have been left without it; for those students who live in contexts of violence that could be aggravated by confinement; for those students with disabilities who do not understand what is happening and why they cannot leave their homes; and for those who do not have technological and educational resources at home to face the situation in the best possible way.

In these situations, the coordination of social workers with socio-educational resources, Community Social Services, as well as the Departments of Justice and Health is also of special importance in order to follow up on those situations that require greater attention (family placement, child poverty, malnutrition, violence, school dropouts, etc.) and to be able to give an early and adequate response.

The exceptional situation of confinement can mean for many students in a situation of vulnerability the loss of social references, contact with peers, and access to the resources and protection offered by the school. Therefore, the social worker must carry out an individual follow-up of the student’s situation and ensure his or her well-being.

Effective work will need to be done, including, but not limited to, the following aspects:

providing continuous support to students with difficulties in accessing, remaining in, or progressing in the education system for social, economic, cultural, or ethnic reasons;

participating in the psycho-pedagogical assessment of students with specific support needs and special educational needs;

collaborating in the response to the social needs of students in educational environments together with the agents, institutions, and socio-educational, judicial, and health entities;

organizing and implementing, together with the teaching teams, actions, and programs for the detection of situations of abuse or vulnerability and being able to eliminate the barriers to the social and educational inclusion of the students;

maintaining communication with families to inform them about social interventions and support measures adopted, providing guidance on aspects that from the family environment can improve student learning;

urging the public administrations to guarantee the basic nutrition of the students who were users of the school canteen, with healthy products, so that their food safety is not put at risk;

collaborating with agents outside the educational centers, with social initiative entities, health centers, mental health units, and base teams of social services in the improvement of the social situations of the students, to facilitate products and hygiene habits for the prevention of infections, healthy living, and good management of leisure time, and to give unified responses in situations of vulnerability.

The social emergency that we are experiencing and the subsequent stage that follows this health crisis will require social policies that make social reconstruction possible. Therefore, the contributions of social work will be decisive in protecting the rights of citizenship and in guaranteeing educational inclusion and equal opportunities for each child of school age.