Schools abroad open during lockdowns

Schools abroad open during lockdowns

Farheen.Hussain@timesgroup.com

24.11.2020

Bengaluru: Several European countries including Germany, Ireland, France, and England may have tightened their lockdowns because of a fresh outbreaks of Covid-19, but they have kept schools and childcare facilities open.

While France imposed a month-long nationwide lockdown on October 28 and England followed suit on November 4, schools were exempt in both countries. Denmark was one of the first western countries to reopen schools on April 15 after a month’s lockdown.

These countries decided on this stand by ensuring innovative and strict safety measures (ventilation, mask-wearing and outdoor classes in small bubbles) and considering socio-economic consequences (like domestic violence, educational interruption, poverty etc.).

Some reports say medical experts in these countries supported the decision, pointing out that the rate of virus transmission in schools was low. As per a study by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, released in August, children accounted for less than 5% of all Covid-19 cases reported in 27 countries of the European Union and Britain.

According to another report, following the summer vacation in Japan, children have been attending school on alternate days to make social distancing easier. Even Wuhan schools reopened on September 1. Schools in Russia, Ukraine and Belgium also reopened in September with authorities making masks mandatory for teachers and pupils.

However, as per foreign media, cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, and Boston in US, are shutting schools and conducting online classes to prevent Covid infections. In Italy too, schools reopened in September after staying closed for six months, but moved to online classes within a week after a fresh outbreak. This led to a protest by a group of students in Italy’s Turin city. Spearheaded by 12-year-old Anita Iacovelli, the movement became a nationwide one with students sitting outside their schools, bracing the winter cold and studying via gadgets.

My daughter, in class 10, had hoped schools would reopen with adequate safety measures. Of course I would have taken a call whether to send her after gauging the situation, but with board exams, I felt she would be better prepared with regular classes. It’s also her last year in school before moving to college. I hope schools reopen at least in January so that she can have two months of memories and studies before exams

Yasmin RJ A PARENT