Schools should not be reopened so soon

Jun 11, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

A woman who has two grandchildren writing the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) next month has made it clear that they will not be attending school when it opens on Monday. She said the students will go and write the examinations but she will not be placing their lives in jeopardy by sending them to classes.
The Ministry of Education should not be reopening classes for those children who are required to write the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) in early July. While one appreciates that it is necessary for the children to write the examination, it is far too risky to ask these children to attend classes for two weeks prior to the examinations.
The students writing the NGSA would have already been prepared for these examinations. The examinations were originally slated for 8th and 9th April but were postponed on March 16, a mere 3 weeks before examinations were to be held. When the postponement was announced, the students should have been in the final stages of preparation for the NGSA.
They have since had an additional three months at home to do the additional work, which they would have been expected originally to complete in the three weeks preceding the original examinations dates. Therefore, there was sufficient time for them to be prepare. If they are not ready as yet, they never will be.
The health risks associated with sending students back to school at this time is much too high. Research has long established that schools are the perfect breeding grounds for the spread of viruses, even where students are spaced as much as 10 feet apart in classrooms.
Most outbreaks of influenza in Guyana have been spread within schools. The students contract it from each other and then take it home where it spreads more quickly throughout the general population.
Imagine what is going to happen if the coronavirus spreads within the school system. It will result in an uncontrollable situation.
There is too great a risk involved in opening schools for two weeks for the NGSA students. Most of whom will have to use public transport and can infect others once they contract the virus.
Based on the recent assessment of PAHO/WHO, the virus’s reproduction number is much too high for even a limited reopening of schools. Countries generally do not relax social restrictions unless the reproduction number is below 1. As at 2 weeks ago, Guyana’s reproduction number for the virus stood at 1.3.
The coronavirus is circulating within the society. Over the past nine days, there have only been three known cases. But for each of these cases, there are three to four potential other cases and there may be many other asymptomatic cases. Guyana should therefore wait until no new cases arise over a two-week period before it begins to even consider reopening schools.
One of the lessons from the coronavirus pandemic is its swift spread and slow decline. The data show an extended period during which new cases and deaths plateau rather than fall precipitously. For example, the United States has continued to record more than 1,000 deaths per day for weeks now. Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom have had similar experiences. Most states in the USA are opening back yet on Tuesday there were more than 19,000 new infections and more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths.
Even when the total number of cases and deaths decline, is there the risk of a second wave of infections? Many countries, which relaxed social restrictions saw a spike in cases.
Presently, millions of persons have taken to the streets in many US states in anti-racism protests. It is near impossible to guarantee social distancing during these protests. And therefore, there will be a spike in coronavirus cases in the next two weeks. Instead of second wave of infections happening in the autumn, it is likely to happen soon. Protestors are endangering their lives and that of their families.
But perhaps the most telling experience are from the schools. Two weeks after reopening schools, Israel had to shut them down because of a spike in infections. At one school alone, there were 130 infections. South Korea has had to postpone the reopening of schools due to a spike in local cases.
The decision therefore of the Ministry of Education to reopen schools on Monday for those students writing the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) is a reckless one. It places our schoolchildren and the general population at risk.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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