More than 1.5 billion students were out of classes in July, according to UN data, in more than 160 countries. The agency then called for the reopening of schools to avoid a “generational catastrophe.” Faced with this challenge, each country has planned its own formulas to reopen schools while fighting the pandemic, however, not all reopenings have been successful. It is a dilemma that creates strong pressure for governments trying to start the new normal, but both parents and teachers are not sure that the timing and measurements are correct.
The United States tries to find a balance. Most states have decided to return to school for the fall of September, and others such as Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Utah and Indiana have already welcomed their students, mainly in rural and suburban areas. However, Covid-19 cases immediately erupted in the Cherokee County School District in Georgia, eventually confining 1,200 people. Photos that went viral on social networks, showed the schools in this district with their corridors full of people without complying with social distance. One of these schools even decided to continue with online classes for the rest of August.
According to the district’s reopening plan, staff were required to wear masks, but not students. Teachers were also required to complete self-assessments and temperature checks.
New York is preparing to be the only one of the 10 largest school districts in the country to open schools for the start of the 2020-21 school year, on September 10. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has launched a hybrid plan for the reopening, but will not make final decisions until the end of the month. According to his plan, students who want to be in school would go a few times a week and learn from home on other days. However, no further details have been released, and the mayor faces anger from attorneys and teachers.
A strict sanitary protocol for the return to classes announced the French government for the national reopening of May 11, which contemplated the voluntary return to classes. The protocol included signs on the ground, spacing of four square meters per student, disinfection of rooms, differentiated shifts to attend classes and the prohibition of playing games in the yard.
But just weeks before the start of the new school year on September 1, the Ministry of Education released a new, much more flexible health protocol. According to the text, the masks would be mandatory for students over 11 years old, who must use them “In closed and outdoor spaces while on the move, as well as in classes when the distance of one meter cannot be guaranteed”. But this Thursday, the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, took a turn at the insistence of the teachers’ unions and now the use of the mask would be mandatory for people over 11 years old at all times inside the rooms.
Primary schools in the Montreal area reopened on May 11, while secondary schools within the city will only begin to reopen in September. Attendance was voluntary and classes with a maximum of 15 students. However, two weeks after the reopening it was confirmed that more than 40 employees and students tested positive for Covid-19, although the province’s director of public health clarified that the reopening had not caused any “significant negative impact.”
Vancouver this week unveiled its back-to-school plan. The plan includes a hybrid model of face-to-face and virtual learning for high school students, with a learning group size of 120, which is the maximum allowed in the province. They will have face-to-face classes in the morning, followed by “flex time” and then virtual learning in the afternoon. Instead elementary schools will return to classes full time.
Since last Tuesday that schools in Scotland began their reopening. According to government protocols, primary and secondary students will not have to ensure a specific distance in classrooms. The desks and chairs will be constantly cleaned and there will be gel alcohol inside the rooms. The idea is to create “bubble classes”, without changes of position, with the aim of limiting the number of close contacts. Students are to remain with their class in the courtyard and cafeteria. The mask is not mandatory for teachers, but they must respect the distance.
Germany began with a gradual return to classes for this new academic year. Berlin started classes at the beginning of the month with the requirement to wear masks for students and teachers in the hallways, but not in class or in the courtyard. Windows are also required to be opened after each 45 minute class. Also, It has been recommended that students be kept in groups that should not be mixed, so that if there is an outbreak, only those affected should be quarantined.
Other states in the country previously began reopening their schools, such as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the mandatory use of masks was not required. However, on August 7 two schools had to be temporarily closed after new cases of Covid-19 were detected.
In Rio de Janeiro, face-to-face classes in the private teaching network are expected to resume on September 14 and, in the case of public schools and universities, on October 5. However, in Sao Paulo, the Brazilian state most affected by the pandemic, the face-to-face return to school, which was to be on September 8, was postponed as a precaution to October 7. According to Datafolha, 79% of Brazilians believe that schools should remain closed.
But the Amazon region was already the first in Brazil to return to school, on August 10. The regional government invested almost US $ 2 million to re-adapt the schools, with the installation of gel alcohol dispensers, among other measures. Students attend classes on alternate days to avoid crowds and the authorities will distribute reusable masks.
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