Janaki (not her real name) cried on her last day at school because she could not say goodbye to her classmates, hug them or relive the good times.
She also cried because she did not have the privilege of school.
Last year, 1.5 billion children the world over suffered from school closures. Apart from the emotional impact, school closures have caused great harm to children's education.
Primary school pupils in England, for example, are three months behind in their learning, while children in Ethiopia only had a third of their usual lessons last year.
The World Bank calculates that globally, children who lose five months of school would have their lifetime income slashed by US$10 trillion dollars.
School closures have messed up children's routine. Some even have lost the zest to learn.
And youngsters have sought to relieve boredom through online games, gambling and even pornography.
Across the world, school closures have widened the learning disparity between the more well-off students, who have IT devices for virtual learning, and the poorer ones.
A good education today is a passport for a better life tomorrow.
One study estimates that a child in a poor country who misses one year of schooling will eventually fall behind by almost three years without help to compensate for the lost time.
Schools, parents and the government, therefore, have an important role to make up for lost ground.
FIRST, schools have to offer additional tuition when school reopens. Syllabi could be abridged and teachers relieved of routine tasks.
SECOND, teachers need to think of inventive ways of teaching online. They should create an engaging environment that helps students feel reconnected to their school and teachers.
Giving meaning to learning, and teaching using stories are strategies that could bear fruit.
THIRD, schools have to contend with the effects on teachers' mental health of teaching with limited interaction and observation.
Parents, too, have a role to play in helping their children to catch up on the time lost.
They should support the academic growth of the child by ensuring that children do their homework regularly and provide resources like books and computers.
Parents could be role models as well in encouraging self-directed learning.
While ensuring that children at home follow a schedule, parents should give children the flexibility to choose the order of the schedule.
This would build the children's time management abilities, including setting goals.
Parents should spend time exercising with their children, sharing household chores and teaching basic culinary skills in the kitchen.
As the saying goes "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy".
This is even truer in lockdown situations. Ensuring that children pursue a hobby that they are interested in would make a big difference to their development.
It would give children something to look forward to once their academic tasks at home are completed.
In being mindful of the damage caused to children's mental health and studies, the government should be extra cautious in continuing with school closures.
True, social distancing might be tricky. But, the risk of infections among children is miniscule.
A study in the United States early this year found that the chance of a 5- to 14-year-old American child being infected and dying from Covid-19 was about one in half a million.
This approximates to a tenth of a chance of a child dying in a traffic accident. Thankfully, vaccination will soon be open for youngsters below 18 years.
Children too must chip in to cover the lost ground from school closures. They can begin by listening more to their parents and teachers.
The writer is AIMST University vice-chancellor
LETTERS The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times