Are primary students ready to go back to school?

According to a report published in this daily yesterday, in line with the resumption of secondary-level schools and colleges, the government is also planning to reopen primary schools and kindergartens. In fact, the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) has already sent a guideline to all primary schools to prepare for reopening by February 4. This is despite the fact that on January 24, Education Minister Dipu Moni told reporters that the government will prioritise students from class 10 and 12 who need to prepare for their public exams. Her exact words were, "It is not possible to maintain health directives properly… as a result, there will be no scope to bring all students at a time at the educational institution."

We are quite perplexed by these contradictory statements from the authorities. If it is not possible to maintain health directives properly, then why are schools being reopened? After 10 months of lockdown, why have the authorities decided to throw primary students and their families into this uncertainty, once again, by barely giving them a week's notice regarding the resumption of classes? While the DPE has sent a guideline on reopening primary schools by February 4, the state minister for primary and mass education has said classes will begin on the first or second week of February, and that kindergarten schools could reopen any day—so which is it?

It is at least heartening to see that the DPE guideline has instructed schools to ensure opening and closure timings and distribution of mid-day meals in a way that avoids gatherings of students and guardians, and that they have especially stressed on the need for safe water and sanitation facilities and socially distanced classrooms, with students, teachers and members of staff being required to wear masks at all times. However, as well-meaning as these guidelines are, they are not easy to implement, especially since a vast majority of our schools are simply not spacious or well-funded enough to strictly maintain these guidelines. Although the authorities have mentioned the school-level improvement plan (SLIP) under the Primary Education Development Programme as a source of funding to ensure hygiene in educational institutions, it is unclear how soon and how easily these funds can be accessed.

The absence of our students from classrooms for such a prolonged period is, of course, a huge cause for concern, especially since there are longstanding issues of digital inequity that are excluding marginalised students from online learning. However, we also cannot push our children back into classrooms without a comprehensive plan on how to ensure that they are safe from Covid-19 in schools. We must keep in mind that while children are unlikely to be severely affected by the coronavirus, they are highly susceptible to becoming carriers of the virus. The last thing we need is another wave of Covid-19 being spread on the eve of vaccination, simply because we did not plan for this eventuality.