The debate on whether schools should reopen next week under these unusual and trying circumstances has been going on for some time. The case for or against has swung according to the COVID-19 situation at the time. Unfortunately, the current situation is not particularly rosy.
Does this mean that schools should remain closed? The answers to that question are complex and conflicting.
Another term during which children do not interact physically with their schoolmates and teachers would doubtless be detrimental to their psychological and social development, especially in the case of primary school pupils. The government’s claim that we risk a lost generation may be a slight exaggeration but there is a basis to it.
Keeping schools closed would also create difficulties for the many working parents who have no one to keep their school-aged children with. By nature, the hardest hit would be those in the lower income groups. It is always that way as the worst affected are families with single and separated parents.
Some parents will simply not be able to go to work if they have to mind their children, creating financial hardship for them and economic repercussions for the country.
If, on the other hand, schools are reopened as planned, it is likely that the coronavirus will spread via the pupils to their families. In Malta, more so than in other countries, a lot of children are picked up from school and looked after for a few hours not by their parents, who would still be at work, but by their grandparents. This is the very population group most vulnerable to the serious and possibly deadly effects of COVID-19.
We must also consider teachers and students with special circumstances: those with chronic and debilitating illness (yes it does occur in the young as well), or those on chemotherapy or who are immunosuppressed.
Another factor to be considered is the likelihood of worse-than-usual traffic gridlock in the mornings as parents, reluctant to make use of school transport due to the inherent risk of infection, opt to drive their children to school instead.
The prime minister has indicated there will be an element of choice regarding school attendance. There is merit to this approach.
Whatever decision the education authorities, schools and parents take, some people will be placed at increased risk, whether of a health, psychological or economic nature.
There is great need for a proactive and creative approach to the situation to reduce risk and keep education going. This may include elements such as flexible school times, after-school supervision for children of working parents, alternation of home-learning with in-person teaching to reduce pupil numbers, permission for vulnerable students to learn from home and the provision of technology for vulnerable teachers to teach from home as well.
Each school would need to have contingency plans for whole classrooms to return home if an outbreak occurs. Employers need to be flexible and understanding in such situations.
School vans need to be seen to be properly supervised and properly disinfected, to increase parent confidence in school transport.
The most important measure, but the least in evidence so far, is education, education, education – not aimed at students but at their parents. The message needs to be pressed home about the importance of hygiene and mask-wearing while parents need to be able to recognise possible symptoms of COVID-19, so that no child will be sent to school if unwell.
COVID is here to stay, at least for a while. We must work together to curb its spread. And we must find ways to work around it to get society moving again – schools are an essential part of society.