Despite the still prevalent coronavirus threat, the government of Pakistan has decided to open schools from 15 September, which leads us to wonder whether this is a good decision or not.
Let’s look at the current COVID situation in the country. Currently, there are 283K confirmed cases, 258K recoveries, and 6,052 deaths due to the virus. While this is still a huge number, the rate at which new cases have been emerging has decreased comparatively. Pakistan has been trying to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 cases using smart lockdowns wherever needed and with the help of standard operating procedures(SOPs). This has resulted in the newly reported cases being decreased from around 7000 in mid-June to 842 cases on 8th August. However, there was a sudden surge in the coronavirus cases in Punjab after Eid-ul-Azha. The everyday cases which had dropped to below(on average) 100 before Eid, has again increased to 300. This leads us to think whether the reopening of the educational institutes is a good option for our unsteady but surely flattening COVID curve.
In a meeting of all the education ministers held on 5th August and chaired by Shafqat Mehmood, the federal minister of education, it was decided that schools and universities will resume classes from 15th September and the administration staff could be called before 15 September and training will be conducted to ensure that SOPs are readily followed by the students and the school staff. In addition, provinces will be responsible for ensuring that the SOPs are implemented.
Now, back to the main question of whether this decision is going to be a good one or one that might plummet the whole process of flattening the curve. While SOPs may be followed, it is important to notice that administrating such a huge number of children in schools and universities will be an extremely hard and difficult process. An increase in the newly reported cases per day will be inevitable once schools are officially reopened. On the other hand, it is also quite obvious that the complete eradication of the virus from the country is far away, which compels us to think whether halting the education system will be a good option for the new generation or not. Despite all this, it is important to consider if risking the lives of children by opening the schools from September is worth it or if online classes can successfully cover the same purpose of education without the need to open schools and universities.
(Image from here.)
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