With the opening of the economy and people returning to work, the Government must now reopen schools, using the approaches and best practices taken by other jurisdictions which have successfully done so, as the benefit of face-to-face learning outweighs the risk of COVID-19.

This is the latest position being put forward by Opposition spokeswoman on education Senator Angela Brown Burke. She made the call at a virtual press conference called by the Opposition People’s National Party yesterday.

She argued that the lack of a vaccine for children under age 12 is no excuse for the absence of a clear plan and the setting down of clear markers for how and when schools will be reopened for face-to-face learning. The Opposition spokeswoman said other stakeholders in the education sector have played their part to ensure that teaching and learning continue amidst the pandemic, and that it is now time for the Government to act decisively to reopen schools.

“As long as the economy is open and people are going to work, our children should be going to school… for schools to reopen, the Government must step up. Teachers are doing their part; the Government is the one that has not done what they’re supposed to do. The Government needs to provide a framework as exists in many other jurisdictions on what are the factors to determine when school is opened or not,” Brown Burke said.

“They also need to do a list of exactly what is required to bring our children back to school face-to-face. There is no vaccine for children under 12 [so] what the Government has done is fold their hands, that is unacceptable. We cannot continue to give the Government a pass to do nothing while everybody else is doing their part to make sure our children are safe,” she added.

According to Brown Burke, children under 12 in other countries are in school because governments have made the decision to address the issue of proper ventilation, brought in children in small groups on scheduled days, and made sanitisation, mask-wearing, and other protocols commonplace. She also said that outdoor venues have also been utilised to prevent spread of the virus in schools.

“Where those protocols are in place, where the governments have actually stepped up to the plate, we find that children in school are learning and they are not at greater risk,” she added.

Senator Brown Burke said while other risks remain, such as with transportation, those can be handled and assessed through close dialogue between the Ministry of Education and school administrations.

“It is time for partnership. It is time to talk with the JUTC [and] with small transport operators to see how we can work something out,” she said.

She insisted that the education ministry must do its research and explain to the country what is unfolding in other jurisdictions with the transmission of COVID-19 in relation to children.

“It is not to hug up the information that they (the ministry) have, it is to share it so that decisions are not made out of panic,” she said.

— Alphea Sumner