One month before children head back to the classroom, the education ministry has promised that plans will be published within the week. Meanwhile, parents and educators are concerned about safety as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. One big question is how online learning will feature in the education equation. Claudia Calleja spoke to two parents who hold contrasting views.

‘Open schools safely’

Parents and educators should be pulling the same rope and lobbying the government to bring the numbers of novel coronavirus cases down, according to a mother of three, lawyer Anjelica Camilleri de Marco.

“I do not feel that parents should be lobbying for online schooling. Rather they should be lobbying for government to bring the numbers down so that our children can return safely to school. If this is taken seriously, I believe we are still in time,” she says.

Camilleri de Marco stresses that she is not in favour of opening schools at all costs – but she is all for opening them safely. This is why efforts need to be directed at reducing COVID.

These children need to socialise

“My main concern is educational. And it’s not just about learning maths, English and Maltese. These children need to socialise,” says Camilleri de Marco whose three children are aged six, four and seven months. When there was the first wave of the virus she happened to be on maternity leave.

What concerns her mostly is that her two older children are in their formative years – learning the basics.

“My four-year-old was learning how to write. That is difficult to teach through online learning,” she says.

“I know that online schooling does not work for preschoolers. I’ve seen how they struggle with attention span and sitting in front of a screen.”

Apart from that, working from home while juggling homeschooling is very difficult for parents who have to work, she says, stressing that her main concern was, however, her children’s education.

‘Allow online learning’

Online schooling should remain an option so parents can choose what they feel is best for their children, maintains mother-of-three Julie Ellul.

“For the past months, since March, we have been teaching our children to be careful and stay away from others. Now we are sending them to school even if, in the case of my children, they are scared of contracting the virus.

“I would love to be able to send them back to school, because they do miss it. But I don’t want to be doing so when the number of cases is so high,” says Ellul whose children are aged one, eight and 10.

She had stopped working to raise her children but confesses that homeschooling was not easy when schools closed in March. However, she would rather do it again than expose her children to the virus.

I don’t want to gamble with my children’s health

“Now we are hearing about side effects of the virus.

“We don’t know how serious they will be because it’s too early. I don’t want to gamble with my children’s health.”

She is also concerned because, if someone in the class is found positive, the entire family would have to quarantine – impacting her husband’s work.

Julie Ellul is one of nearly 3,000 parents to join the Facebook private group COVID-19: We want online schooling in September.

These parents argue that, in light of the high number of cases of COVID-19 and also because children are very good transmitters of the virus, schools should have a set-up that allows the option of online schooling.