The closure question

Schools have autonomy to decide status of classes, with advice from health authorities

THE nightmare for any parent, currently, has come true for some. Covid-19 has emerged in some schools, just two weeks after reopening. Parents are concerned and rightfully so. They fear for their children’s safety. Children are not among those who can be inoculated against the coronavirus, and even if they could, we are only into Phase 1 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme where the priority is medical frontliners and elected representatives.

Some parents have called for the Education Ministry (MOE) to review the decision to reopen schools. While we are on a downward trend as far as daily infections are concerned, we are still in the four-digit realm. Understandably, parents worry for their children, especially with the risk that school clusters can appear and lead to infections outside and in the community. The MOE, meanwhile, is adhering to the standard operating procedures (SOP) put in place during last year’s reopening of schools, before the third wave of Covid-19 infections hit us. They include physical distancing, face masks and hand sanitisers. Children are told to have breakfast before school and encouraged to bring their own meals for recess. Those unable to do so may purchase meals from the canteen, but are not allowed to eat there. All meals, in fact, are to be eaten in their respective classes.

These SOP are aimed at ensuring a safe environment at schools for not only students, teachers and parents, but also to enable continuity for the entire education ecosystem and its supporting services.

But what happens if Covid-19 rears its ugly head in schools, as it has begun to now? Should entire schools be closed? Or perhaps only the affected class or classes, and the children and teachers who have come into close contact with the Covid-19-positive person be told to stay home? If the SOPs are the same, then we will follow what Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in October last year, that school administrations themselves would have the authority and prerogative to shutter the schools.

Things have changed a little since then, though. As our experience with the virus grew, close contacts were redefined as those who have spent a prolonged amount of time exposed to someone who has turned out to be Covid-19-positive. As such, classmates may be close contacts, but do other students in the school also qualify? If they do not qualify, and the SOP is good enough, perhaps it is best to let school continue for all except the class where the cases occurred. School authorities, then, would be the best people to decide whether to continue, perhaps with the consent of parents.

The recommendation, however, is to seek the advice of health authorities before coming to a decision. Should the experts advice closure, then there should be no question of what needs be done. Should they say classes can be continued after sanitisation, the decision should then fall on school administrators. Whatever the decision, SOPs should continue to be strictly followed. We are flattening the curve and should keep it that way.

Whatever the decision, SOPs should continue to be strictly followed.