NO COMPROMISE ON PUPILS’ LIVES

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With our Ministry of Education, teachers, parents and Parliament failing to reach common ground, the disorganisation that welcomed pupils back to class at some schools yesterday should not surprise anybody.

Getting to school was not easy for some, neither was it safe for others, as the promised special transport for the pupils was hard to find. Public transport operators gave no preference to pupils who were rendered latecomers, while some of those who did get on the vehicles didn’t get to see or use the sanitisers pronounced the day before. We must fix this urgently as lives are at stake.

It provides little comfort that teachers are divided over the stance taken by their association, SNAT, to stay home. The organisation has dragged government to court to reverse the schools opening decision, stopping short of describing it as ill-timed and downright dangerous to both its members and the pupils who would be exposed to the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, due to ill-preparedness.

Cabinet’s assessment prior to yesterday was that a majority of schools were well prepared with the essential hygiene facilities,with the exception of a few institutions that still had much to do. A political decision has been made and at this stage only a court order or a sharp spike in infections can change it. Even then, the minister of Education has said only the affected school would be closed.

As it stands, parents are forced to place their trust in teachers and government to keep their children safe on the assumption that Cabinet knows what it is doing and is well-prepared for the consequences. Yes, truth be told, we cannot run away from COVID-19 by hiding behind closed doors forever.

What is critical now, however, is how best we protect our children by providing all that is necessary to minimise the risk of infection. It goes without saying that parents should expect top-up fees to return by COVID-19 demand in order to foot the bill for the sanitisers, water, soap, screening themometers and masks for both pupils and teachers, because government has shown serious shortcomings in this regard with frontline workers. There can be no compromise on these essentials.

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