Opinion:
By Anthony Oboghene Ororho
There has been so much euphoria about the hope that schools will resume in earnest this September. This euphoria is coming against the backdrop of lock down of socio-academic institutions like schools, from the crèche level, through the K-12 level, to the College/University level. While many are happy about the proposed resumption or actual resumption, there is the school of Sceptics, who think that it is not safe to send children to school for now. For the sake of clarity, we shall call those who are happy that schools are resuming, the Hopefuls while those who are not, the Sceptics.
In a society like Nigeria, one will find that the number of Hopefuls is by far greater than the number of Sceptics. The reason for this is basically economic, rather than scientific, since, majority of the hopefuls are teachers whose salaries can hardly take them home. For this school of thought, it is ‘crazy’, that anyone would ask teachers to stay at home, without a source of income for six months. They posit that all the other industries have resumed work, except the education industry, and, of curse, places of worship which are yet to be allowed to receive a full congregation as at press time. The Hopefuls reason that through out the lock down, parents took their children to markets to help in making money to feed the family. In fact, some churches located in the outskirts of town, operated at near-full capacity, except for some worshippers who were Sceptics.
But the Sceptic school of thought will tell you that in countries where social distancing rules have been ignored, the number of Covid-19 positive cases has increased. Some of those countries that allowed schools to resume, have called off teachers and students from campuses. The argument they put forth is schooling is only possible where there is life. They reason that it will be suicidal to send children to school because, you cannot get them to maintain social distancing; they may share face masks, even taking them home; they will drink from each other’s bottles, spit on each other as usual, while playing etc. Then, thy will bring the virus home to their ageing or aged parents, without knowing. And since most children are asymptomatic, a child may carry the virus for months, distributing it to as many symptomatic people as possible, without detection.
Since “Children’s Lives Matter” for me as an educational administrator cum consultant, I want to ask:
Will crèche and kindergarten resume too?
This is the most difficult class of pupils to control?
One area of worry for me I that crèche classrooms usually have controlled temperatures; this means that air conditioners are installed in these classrooms. Do we leave the windows open, to allow cross ventilation, and reduce community spread of the virus? How do we control the children? I ask this question because the support teacher (care giver) may be teaching a child putty habits while the class teacher is attending to another child. If there are eight children in the class, what prevents the other six from playing and falling over one another?
A look at the Kindergarten Class will reveal a bigger problem for the caregivers and teachers. This class of pupils is more active than the crèche class. They can be very ‘troublesome’ at times; I mean, they are quite a handful. They tumble over virtually anything that they come across, they begin to show signs of asserting their independence, and may reach for the door, before the teachers actually know what is happening. How do we socially distance this group of pupils? As I type this opinion, my seven year old son Johan, is playing in his room, with his friend Brian. I can tell you that the room looks like a mini-hurricane just passed by my house.
Recall that over 12 million students resumed school today, Tuesday, September 1, 2020 in France. The review is on, on the Cable News Network (CNN). Some parents in France, belong to the Sceptic School of thought. They are saying that, they do not think it safe, to send their children to school. This may mean that some parents may have to home school their children for the first term, while they watch out for developments in the schooling system of their country.
Below is a brief report from CNN:
“All French schools are reopening for the first time since March, with masks mandatory for students aged 11 and older.
Students and teachers alike are keen to meet once again in school and not just online.
Though many students and teachers will have to wear masks all day, CNN’s Melissa Bell reports that the French are generally on board with the measures.”—CNN
The above report will no doubt please the Hopefuls, but I want to call on every school owner across the globe, to put “Safety First,” as a post-Covid-19 motto in mind, help teachers imbibe the New Culture, and, teachers ill guide students to practice it.
#SafeResumption
*Anthony Oboghene Ororho is a school administrator/education consultant resident in Nigeria.
Tel: +234 803 710 4980
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