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Two weeks ago, the Government published its roadmap to reopen society and business. In the 23-page document, his plans to keep schools closed until September deserved only a footnote.
On page eight, under measures of education and childcare, are the words: “Staged opening begins at the beginning of the 2020/21 academic year: elementary and secondary schools; universities, tertiary education centers and adult education centers. “
There was no explanation for why schools will open last after offices, construction sites, garden centers, restaurants, sportsbooks, bars, and hair salons.
There was even an acknowledgment in a footnote to the footnote that infections are “less commonly seen in children and that transmission from child to adult appears to be rare.”
Questionable
However, the roadmap anticipates that schools will remain closed for the next four months. This approach seems increasingly questionable.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s comments yesterday that the reopening of schools is “one of the safest things we can do in the coming months” has raised hopes that schools will open sooner rather than later.
Before, parents and students refer to the current school year and not September.
Mr. Varadkar was maddeningly lazy in the details. What do the “next two months” mean? Is it now, next week, next month, or September?
Do you understand that this type of casual speculation only leads to false hopes and disappointments among children who desperately want to go back to school?
We have been here before. In April, Health Minister Simon Harris said that children could return to primary schools one day a week. The National Teachers’ Organization of Ireland expressed the hope that the children can return to school in June. What happened to those proposals?
No explanation has been received because parents and students, the primary stakeholders in using managerial jargon, are supposed to hold out and keep quiet when it comes to Irish education.
It is increasingly clear that the peremptory, high-level decision to close schools until September, without keeping the situation under review, was unnecessary.
The medical reasons for this are increasingly tenuous. A study by the Health Information and Quality Authority concluded, albeit from limited evidence internationally: “It appears that children are not contributing substantially to domestic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to date. According to a study, the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in children in schools is also very low. “
The Taoiseach suggested yesterday after a meeting with Dr. Mike Ryan of the World Health Organization, that it would not be a “good reflection of us as a society to be the last people who can reopen our schools and reopen our nursery facilities. “
Only Italy and Spain in Europe have planned to keep their schools closed until September and the coronavirus pandemic has hit them hardest.
Currently, we have the spectacle of horse racing and the representative groups of winegrowers who press the Government to reopen earlier than planned.
Who will speak for the 500,000 elementary students in this country who have seven weeks of schooling left? Why should they have to wait?
Transition
By the time schools return in September, if they do, these children will have been out of the classroom for almost six months. Children in sixth class will make the great transition to high school without the careful preparation necessary for such a change.
While public debate has focused on the fate of the Leaving Certificate, elementary school children are also under stress and their pandemic has ruined their lives.
If there are strong reasons why schools cannot return until September, these reasons have not been explained to the Irish public.
Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan acknowledges that many studies have been conducted to substantiate the claim that children are not the main spreaders of the disease and are not adversely affected by it.
However, he would not give in to the health council that schools should remain closed.
“It is completely different to conclude in policy terms that we have sufficient evidence to say that transmission of children does not occur, but it has not yet been identified as a significant problem in the small number of studies that have been conducted,” he said.
Dr. Holohan wants an evidence-based public health policy. We also. You should therefore point to studies showing that children are significant diffusers of Covid-19 and that it constitutes a major health threat.
Could you explain why the Republic cannot follow Denmark, where the children returned to school almost a month ago.
The experiment there has so far worked. The Danish R0 has continued to decline from 0.9 to 0.7 since schools reopened and high school students are also returning.
They also return to school this week in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, three countries that have higher death rates than Covid-19 Ireland.
If the government and the National Public Health Emergency Team know something about the danger of sending primary school children to school that the rest of Europe does not know, they should share it with us.
In Switzerland, primary schools started on Monday. The country’s public health spokesman, Daniel Koch, succinctly justified this decision: “It is very rare for children to transmit and contract the disease. Children rarely infect other children. The situation is stable and there is no contradiction that schools reopen, it’s understandable and correct. “
If the government and the National Public Health Emergency Team know something about the danger of sending primary school children to school that the rest of Europe does not know, they should share it with us.
Pressure
There is still time for elementary school children to get a meaningful education this year. It’s not just about the education they lack; school is a big part of their socialization.
The absence of routine is causing great tension. That tension will only worsen as the economy begins to reopen.
How are parents who will return to work on May 18, June 8 and 20 supposed to provide childcare for elementary students?
Elementary school closings must end sooner rather than later.
There is a fear among parents that schools will remain closed until September, not because it is the best option for children, clearly it is not, but because it is the most convenient.
Parents should make their voices heard on this issue. Things cannot continue as they are happening.
Ronan McGreevy is a journalist for the Irish Times.
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