Partial re-opening of schools is not good policy

As part of Unlock 4.0, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the partial resumption of facilities in schools. While this SOP states that this partial reopening is voluntary and for classes 9-12 only, this is a step to test waters and then fully reopen schools amid the pandemic, much like the voluntary ‘Janata Curfew’ that was followed by a full-scale overnight lockdown.

There are many reasons for not rushing the reopening of schools. First and foremost are recent instances from the US, where the government raced to open schools and colleges, ending up increasing the number of infections. Any argument that children of this age are virtually immune from the disease is simply misdirection. There are a significant number of reported infections in this age group and also the well-documented transmission of the disease.

Recently, the World Health Organization released considerations for reopening schools where it acknowledged that outbreaks in schools are determined by background community transmission. We know that the rise in infected cases in India is no longer limited to clusters. Given that millions of elderly people are staying with their children since lockdown, the suggested partial reopening will further increase the risk for the elderly, even when they stay at home. Past and current data show that youth drive infections while the older generation pays the price.

The partial reopening of schools will result in school managements forcing teachers to report to the school premises for work. About two million individuals teach classes 9-12, as per national data. Further “voluntary” reopening of primary and secondary schools would put at risk another 6.6 million teachers. Add to it the support staff that will be needed to run schools, we are looking at an additional 10 million people stepping out, an interaction we have avoided so far.

Many schools in India lack basic amenities, light, ventilation, access to clean toilets and adequate water. Such problems have been highlighted before the pandemic. Adding to their burden will be the need for alcohol-based sanitizers and sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff. Managements will push these responsibilities onto individuals to cut costs. Avoiding them will exacerbate the infection.

Restarting an activity can work if we can create bubbles of infection-free people and avoid contact outside these bubbles. This model has worked well for resuming professional sports activities. Universities in the US attempted to recreate this model where they extensively tested students and staff on arrival. But one needs to realise the difference in the scale of professional sports and educational institutions. At its peak, the English Premier League tests 1,500-2,000 players a week. That’s about the size of a school in India. Plus, individuals at a school won’t be staying in the bubble. Instead, they will constantly move in and out of it, thereby increasing interactions with others and increasing the risk of infections. As schools in the US realised, even extensive testing was not sufficient to stop an outbreak.

According to reports, recommendations for reopening of schools have come from public health experts from medical associations. The reports speak of “returning to normalcy” in educational institutions because “young children are at extremely low risk of morbidity when infected” and “focus should be on preventing deaths” and not containing the infection. Such recommendations can only be regarded as irresponsible, especially if they are indeed coming from experts in epidemiology and disease control. Normalising the high number of infections is an attempt at gaslighting queries about the gravity of the current situation. With low testing capacity, public health experts were claiming a cut in viral transmission in April after the 30-day lockdown and yet, here we are touching a 100,000 positive cases a day.

Covid-19 has affected students' education disproportionately. Most schools have switched to the online mode of conducting classes, leaving out children who may not have access to a computing device or high-speed internet. Even those who have access to schools are likely to suffer from mental health issues due to the lockdown, data for which is currently unavailable for Indian students. Access to teachers is a good move but does not have to come after a government directive. If the government wants to intervene, it should aim at providing educational services over TV or radio for all grades. State governments could be encouraged to provide content in local/regional languages to ensure maximum coverage.

Schools that have shifted to online classes have simply adopted freely available solutions that enable interactions but not necessarily education. Schools should be encouraged to spend resources and innovate learning through these tools, instead of simply conducting online classes.

While the government is under pressure to kickstart the economy, containing the infection will help resume economic activity, not restarting schools before the infection is contained. The focus must be on quick identification and isolation of infected individuals and not normalising infections. As the number of infections dip, people will find it safer to return to work and schools. Force-starting educational institutions will further strain the limited testing capacity that we have, leaving more undetected infections and rise in cases.

Spain, Italy and other European countries are set to open schools this month, long after they saw their infection peaks. We are not yet sure of our peak, and releasing such directives and acting upon them will only delay it further. Surviving the pandemic is more important than losing an academic year.

(The writer is an intern in public policy at the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru)