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Millions of pupils have returned to school across Europe, with hand washing stations, social distancing and tiered playtime the new normal as countries seek ways for children to safely return to the classroom.
In France, Spain and elsewhere, some parent-teacher unions have raised concerns about plans to reopen classrooms as the spread of the virus takes a renewed pace.
“It’s good that they are starting over, getting back to a normal routine,” said a father who dropped his daughter off at his secondary school in Saint-Leu-d’Esserent, north of Paris.
When asked if she was concerned about the spread of the virus in schools, she said: “No more than in the market. You can’t stop living, you just have to follow the rules.”
Countries are taking different approaches to minimize contagion in schools.
The 17 regions of Spain are responsible for their own back-to-school plan, although they must follow national regulations, such as mandatory masks for children over the age of six.
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At the Inmaculada and San José de la Montaña school in Ronda, southern Spain, staff were spacing out desks and establishing a one-way system through hallways before reopening on September 10.
“We have put gel on them, we can take their temperature, we have spacing in all the classrooms,” explained the school principal, Mother Marta.
“We are doing everything we can,” he added.
The French government said the crisis should not put citizens’ lives on hold, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was crucial that schools in England reopen this week.
Schools in Scotland reopened last month, with mandatory face masks for high school students, except in classrooms.
Johnson is under pressure to show he can oversee a full-time return to school after the A Level controversy.
But the unions have complained about the chaos caused by the last minute changes and have stressed the importance of a ‘Plan B’ in case a second wave hits.
“It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that local restrictions will be a feature of fall and winter,” said Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school principals union.
At the height of the global coronavirus lockdowns in April, some 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures, according to UNESCO. The school closures widened the inequality gap, experts said.
The risk of transmission of the coronavirus within schools depends on what is happening in the local community, as well as the security measures in place, according to epidemiologists.
Global data on the spread of the coronavirus pandemic shows that children and young people account for only 1-2% of Covid-19 cases worldwide. Most of the infections reported in children are mild or asymptomatic, with few deaths recorded.
“Schools operate in communities, they do not operate in isolation. So the most important thing we look for is what transmission looks like in the community where those schools operate,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist at the World Health Organization.
Germany and Sweden can offer some peace of mind.
In Germany, where schools have reopened since the beginning of August, the proportion of coronavirus cases among those under 20 years of age has remained stable.
In Sweden, keeping schools open during the pandemic did not lead to higher infection rates among students compared to neighboring Finland, where schools were temporarily closed.
“We want children to go back to school and people to go back to work, but we want it to be done safely. At the same time, no country can pretend that the pandemic is over,” said the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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