There’s no logic in closing schools to curb COVID cases: Expert

The outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID has led to several administrations closing down schools and colleges. In India, states like Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have closed down schools due to rising cases. However, an education expert has said there’s little to be gained by the move.

There is no justification for keeping schools closed now, Jaime Saavedra, Global Director for Education at the World Bank, has said.  Though new waves of the pandemic are occurring, keeping schools closed should be the last resort, he observed, pointing out that schools are not ‘unsafe places’. Saavedra, who is former Education Minister of Peru, has been tracking the impact of the pandemic on the education sector.

From observations made over the past two years, there is little to prove that reopening schools leads to a surge in cases, he said. Waiting for the children to get vaccinated before reopening schools also is not a sound policy, since there is ‘no science’ behind it, he added.

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“There is no relation between opening schools and the spread of coronavirus. There is no evidence linking the two and there is no justification now to keep the schools closed. Even if there are new waves of COVID, closing schools should be the last resort,” he told PTI in an interview. “It does not make sense to keep restaurants, bars and shopping malls open and keep schools closed. There is no excuse.”

Big risk of closure

World Bank simulations are said to have seen no significant health risks for children when schools are opened. On the other hand, the closure presents a big risk.

The closures in 2020 were justified because the world could not comprehend COVID, said Saavedra. Hence, governments the world over closed schools to keep the children relatively safe. However, subsequent events proved that there is very little correlation between opening schools and rising cases.

“We have been able to see if schools opening has had an impact in the transmission of virus and new data shows it doesn’t. Many counties have also had waves when schools were closed so obviously there has been no role of schools in some of the spikes,” he said. “Even if the kids can get infected — and with the Omicron it is happening — fatalities and serious illness among children is extremely rare. The risks for children are low and costs are extremely high.”

Learning poverty fears

In India, in particular, it is imperative to keep schools open, said Saavedra. The ‘learning poverty’ may increase far more than anticipated, he added. ‘Learning poverty’ refers to children being unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10.

“The learning poverty in India is expected to increase from 55% to 70% due to leaning loss and more out-of-school children. Learning adjusted years of schooling is estimated to fall almost one full year of schooling while the average annual earnings might shrink in a pessimistic scenario by nine per cent per student in future,” he said.

“In countries like India where the inequalities in education were already prevalent before the pandemic and the learning poverty levels were already gigantic, there is a lot at stake. Nearly two years later, schools remain closed for millions of children, and others may never return to school,” he added. “The loss of learning that many children are experiencing is morally unacceptable. And the potential increase of learning poverty might have a devastating impact on future productivity, earnings, and well-being for this generation of children and youth, their families, and the world’s economies.”