It Can Be Done Safely! It Must Be Done Safely!
- Laura Chesnik and Enver
Villamizar,
Hosts of Education Is a Right Podcast -
At this time the people in Canada, the United
States and other countries are being lined up pro or con on the
reopening of schools: in-person versus online, full-time in class
versus part-time in class. It is presented as a debate about the risks
that people are willing to take with their children and the children of
others versus the cost, in terms of children's mental and physical
well-being, of being kept out of school. Behind this lies the argument
that to maintain the profits of various industries schools must be
reopened so parents can be freed up for work. There is a serious
disconnect between the problems of public health, which affect
everyone, and the direction of the economy, which is socially
integrated but privately controlled. This is at the root of the way the
discussion about reopening schools is becoming polarized.
It is becoming a very tense and personal debate
where some who have no choice but to send their children to school in
order to work are pitted against those who do have the choice or who
cannot risk sending their children to school due to, for example,
pre-existing health conditions of their children or themselves. However
the problem does not pose itself as a matter of risk analysis or
balancing risk and benefit, as is often talked about.
Public education and the participation of the
population to accomplish the aim of defeating the pandemic are vital
ingredients to stopping the spread of the virus and bringing it under
control until a vaccine or mass treatment regimes are launched. In this
vein, the opening of schools on a full-time basis can be an ingredient
for stopping the virus and not just a "risk" to be balanced against
another "risk." However, it can also contribute to spreading the virus
more intensely and quickly, depending on the circumstances. A major
issue is the need to have community transmission brought under control
before schools reopen.
Dr. Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the World
Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, said in this regard
at a news conference on July 13, "If we suppress the virus in our
society, in our communities, then our schools can open safely. The fact
remains that when community transmission exists and when community
transmission is intense, children will be exposed to that virus and
children will be part of the transmission cycle. They will be exposed,
some will be infected and they will infect others."[1]
If community spread has been controlled then
opening schools can contribute to maintaining its control and to
educating students about how and where the virus spreads. On the other
hand, if it has not been brought under control, opening the schools
will inevitably contribute to speeding up transmission in the community.
In some provinces where reopening plans have been
announced, there is deep concern that the way in which governments are
proposing to reopen schools is seriously unsafe, especially in places
where the pandemic is not under control and the number of new cases is
still rising. Responses such as "there is no completely
risk-free approach" and that there are negative consequences to keeping
children at home, while true, are not sufficient answers but are used
to try to silence those who are raising serious concerns that need to
be addressed. Parents are being put in a position where they have to
make an individual choice between the serious risk of sending children
into a classroom of 30 students with no physical distancing, as in the
case of Alberta and now Ontario too, and the damage done when children
miss out on learning and socialization with other students. Many are
concerned that this approach will have long-term consequences for the
education system, as parents leave the public system and choose
alternate programs.
Education as a Right
Education is a right, and governments are
duty-bound to provide that right with a guarantee under all conditions
and circumstances. This means working out an approach that will meet
the needs of all students and their families and that harmonizes the
various individual interests with those of the collective interest.
This includes taking into account families who have no alternative but
to send their children to school five days a week as well as families
where members of the household are at a higher risk of severe
consequences if they contract COVID-19.
 Putting the right
to education along with actually stopping the pandemic in first place
as the aim, and not just a policy objective, will open up prospects and
bring forward viable solutions. A government with this as its priority
would examine all the available options. Qualified teachers who have
left the profession could be encouraged to return. What alternate
spaces can be used to allow for smaller classes? Can empty offices or
other suitable spaces be converted into classrooms? What transportation
capacity exists in cities and how can it be expanded? How can nurses
and other public health personnel be brought into schools? How can
testing be done regularly and in a widespread manner? How can the
education workers, students and parents be empowered to take control
over the decisions that will affect their lives?
The point of this discussion is not to say that
there is one way or a formula for doing this, but rather to overcome
the stalemate that is emerging in which governments refuse to take
measures that will actually eliminate the virus, and just tell us all
to live with it, and make our own decisions on the basis of
cost-benefit calculations like shrewd gamblers. Instead, with an aim of
actually defeating the virus so we can proceed with re-establishing
stability, we can view schools and the human beings who converge in
them each day as an asset that can be put at the disposal of solving
the public health problem confronting humanity.
It can be done safely! It must be done safely!
The Need to Start Afresh When Reopening Schools
When the pandemic hit Canada around mid-March,
schools were shuttered in many jurisdictions from one day to the next.
There was no time or space to educate the students and staff about the
virus or proper protocols and behaviours that would contribute to
preventing its spread. This was left to chance.
Without ensuring that the population understands
the protocols so that they can implement them under different
circumstances, it is impossible to truly slow down the virus's spread
and ultimately defeat it. Those countries that made sure the public was
fully informed about the protocols and why they were being implemented
and then ensured the population was not left to fend for themselves
have suppressed the virus. Vietnam is a good example, with three deaths
and only a few hundred cases to date in a population of over 97
million. Those working in public health in Vietnam have explained that
having the buy-in of the population to implement and follow the
protocols was key in containing the virus, along with the whole of
society approach toward stopping its spread.
In Canada, if the aim of reopening schools is
taken up in a way to contribute to stopping the virus and affirming the
right to education, it can play a very positive and activating role.
For example, the World Health Organization has pointed out that schools
can play a key role in quickly getting information and guidance out to
the population. They can also serve as a hub for testing and
immunization programs. If the aim is to stop the virus, schools could
be used to identify as many cases as possible and to organize the
implementation of the necessary public health measures to prevent
further spread in the population. This may sound counter intuitive but
in a situation where everyone is being left to fend for themselves,
having students attend school, especially those who are not effectively
able to just stay at home, is a way to make sure they are taken care of
and learn how they and their families can protect themselves and others.
When and How to Reopen?
 With
this framework, one of the first things that must be tackled in
reopening schools is when to open and how to know when the
time
is right. Different areas of Canada and different regions of provinces
have varying degrees of community transmission. With stopping the virus
as the aim, the reopening of schools has to be in keeping with the
conditions. In an area with relatively high community
transmission it would make sense to have students taught remotely until
community transmission is brought under control and then physically
reopen schools gradually with all the necessary safety protocols in
place to ensure the virus stays under control.
Alongside this there must be measures to stop
outbreaks in workplaces where these are still occurring. In one area of
Southwestern Ontario, for example, which currently has the highest
infection rate in the province, most new cases continue to be among
migrant workers employed at agribusiness operations. Many of these
workers, considered by the local public health unit to be high risk
because of their working and living conditions, live together in
bunkhouses on their employers’ premises. A lot of others,
however, live in community settings as do local workers who work
alongside them. Without bringing these workplace outbreaks under
control, the schools cannot fulfill the aim of stopping the virus
effectively and may increase community spread should they open
prematurely. What is needed is an all-sided approach.
In areas with little to no community transmission
there is a better possibility of restarting school with all students,
albeit with smaller class sizes and strict measures for hygiene. This
requires investment and the empowerment of those who will be on the
front lines so it can be done with the full participation of those
expected to implement the new protocols.
Testing, Screening and Follow-up
The next matter is testing. Schools can be used to
assess the presence of the virus in the general population, especially
among those who are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic and to do detailed
contact tracing. Having this information will assist in adding to the
body of knowledge about how the virus spreads through the population so
as to better defeat it and manage future pandemics. If in the first
week of school all students and staff are tested and then sent home
until the results are available a snapshot of the school population can
be established. Any positive cases can self-isolate along with their
families, with full income and job maintenance supports provided for
any affected staff, along with food delivery and daily check-ins by
public health authorities. Repeat testing could then be done once a
week or on another regular basis. Tests would have to be assessed in an
expedited manner, possibly over weekends, to identify any new positive
cases.
Following the first round of testing the main
focus of the schools would be to educate students in the proper hygiene
and distancing protocols with full information about the virus, how it
spreads and why the measures are being taken. The first week of school
would be training in implementing the measures and involve the students
in working out how to implement them in the classroom and school so
that they can be empowered to make the rules their own.
During these times, custodial staff would have to
carry out intense sanitizing each evening.
Another aspect that is significant is whether or
not to take temperatures of students at the schools. In many provinces
authorities have not indicated that this is a requirement. One case
study in a Chinese hospital showed that up to 41 per cent of infected
children who were in the hospital for COVID-19 developed a fever. By
regularly taking the temperature of students and staff and documenting
it, immediate measures can be taken if a fever develops and long-term
data can be collected on how the virus presents.
Masks and Ventilation
Whether to require masks in schools or not has
become a matter of controversy. The debate does not centre around their
usefulness, but rather whether children can wear them or not. This has
a lot to do with the conditions in a school. Children can and should be
educated about how to wear a mask properly and why. This will
contribute to them informing their families as well about these
matters. If proper investments are made to ensure ventilation, wearing
a mask is very realistic. If schools are not properly ventilated and
extremely hot, as is often the case, this will make wearing a mask for
long periods of time very difficult and possibly even dangerous. Making
sure schools have proper ventilation will ensure that children and
staff will have the conditions required to wear masks. This may mean
ensuring that windows can be opened. Many older schools don't have
screens and opening windows would pose a new risk that wasps or bees
could get in and cause serious allergic reactions if children or staff
are stung. Screens can be installed to ensure that outside air is
brought in.
Empowered Health and Safety Committees
Each day worksite health and safety committees,
either those established by law in places like Ontario, or those
created by staff in areas where there are no mandated worksite
committees, should meet to assess how things went and make any changes
for the next day. On a weekly basis the representatives from each
school would get together to share experiences and sort out problems.
These meetings could be open for all to participate. Students should
have representatives on the health and safety committees as it is their
health and safety as well. They could be student council
representatives where these councils exist or they could be students
from each grade level who volunteer and who act to help get information
from and to their peers.
 These committees
should be empowered to oversee the reopening and to be the link between
the school and the school board and local public health authorities. In
all of this, students, staff and parents or guardians must be empowered
to have a voice at their local school so they can work out how to
achieve the aim.
In conclusion, the point to reiterate here is that
if we can strictly control the virus where there is low community
transmission school opening can contribute to keeping it low, educating
the population on hygiene and other measures and gathering
important data on how the virus spreads and where it spreads so that we
can contribute to the body of scientific knowledge which can prepare us
to prevent or stop future pandemics. However, if schools are opened on
the basis of a calculated risk it will not inspire the population nor
empower the people to participate in combating the pandemic. When and
how to open schools has to be based on local conditions and on
affirming the right of the youth to education and the right of workers
to healthy and safe working conditions over which they exercise control.
Note
1. "WHO
warns against using school reopenings as 'political football' in
coronavirus debate," Noah Higgins-Dunn, CNBC.com, July 13, 2020.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 28 - August 1, 2020
Article Link:
It Can Be Done Safely! It Must Be Done Safely! >
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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