Schools opened during the covid pandemic

The Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) plans to restart teaching and learning activities in mid-July 2020. Schools that are considered safe from COVID-19 will later be opened while still implementing large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) to prevent disease transmission.

However, this idea received criticism and rejection because opening schools during the pandemic was considered too risky. Even with the implementation of health protocols, schools still have the potential to become places for the spread of COVID-19 to students, teaching staff, and parents.

If so, is it safe to open schools while the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing?

Plans for opening schools during the pandemic

In early May, the Ministry of Education and Culture stated that it had reviewed plans to open schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. But before that, the local Central and Regional COVID-19 Task Forces will first determine which areas are included in the green zone and the red zone.

Schools in the green zone are likely to be reopened by implementing COVID-19 prevention protocols for students and education personnel. Meanwhile, schools in the red zone will continue to carry out teaching and learning activities (KBM) from home.

Hamid Muhammad as Plt. The Ministry of Education and Culture's Director General of Early Childhood Education and Higher Education stated that there are three possible learning system scenarios during the COVID-19 pandemic. All three depend on when the pandemic ends.

The first scenario, if the pandemic ends in June, teaching and learning activities can resume in the new school year 2020/2021 in July 2020. Schools can reopen by implementing some adjustments.

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The second scenario, if the pandemic ends in late August or September, students will continue to study from home until the middle of the odd semester 2020/2021. The Ministry of Education and Culture will review when it is safer to open schools.

The third scenario is applied if the COVID-19 pandemic ends at the end of the year. In this worst-case scenario, Hamid stated that teaching and learning activities will continue to be carried out at home throughout the odd semester of 2020.

There is a risk of opening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic

Over the past few weeks, countries where the number of cases have decreased have started reopening PAUD schools to advanced levels. This decision was also taken because the transmission of COVID-19 to children was considered less severe than adults.

However, the reduction in cases does not make a country safe from COVID-19. A report from Shenzhen, China, also stated that transmission to children is as severe and rapid as adults.

In South Korea and Finland, new cases have resurfaced after several schools reopened. Without the COVID-19 vaccine, opening schools during the pandemic has the risk of contracting more people (especially children).

When schools open, children are not only at risk of infection from their classmates. They can also get it from people without symptoms (OTG) in public transportation or before entering the school environment.

Children who are positive for COVID-19 may spread the virus to their peers, group mates, or teachers without realizing it. Apart from direct transmission, they are also at risk of spreading the virus through items they touch without washing their hands.

The infected child can then infect their parents at home. His parents then infected other people around him, and so on until the area that was safe had an increase in cases.

If there are areas that want to reopen their schools, the local government and schools must be very disciplined in implementing health protocols. If not, a good purpose of teaching and learning can actually open the door to the spread of disease.

IDAI advice on opening schools during pandemic

The Indonesian Pediatric Association (IDAI) issued a recommendation regarding the opening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This recommendation was made in view of the growing number of cases, the easing of the PSBB, and the difficulty of implementing infection prevention in children.

The following recommendations are given by IDAI:

1. IDAI supports and appreciates the Ministry of Education and Culture's policy of making the house a school and involving the active role of students, teachers and parents in the teaching and learning process.
2. IDAI recommends that teaching and learning activities continue to be implemented through a distance learning scheme (PJJ), both online and offline, using the home learning module provided by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
3. Taking into account the anticipation of a second spike in cases, it is best if schools do not open until at least December 2020. School opening can be considered if the number of cases has decreased.
4. If the conditions for opening schools are met, IDAI calls on all parties to cooperate with IDAI branches in controlling the epidemic, setting up a health service system, and detecting and tracking new cases.
5. IDAI recommends that the government and the private sector carry out massive rt-PCR examinations (30 times the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19), including children.

There are many obstacles when schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, it is not easy to teach children to wear masks to prevent transmission.

They may not feel comfortable wearing their masks or often touch them while playing. In fact, this habit can increase the risk of transmission.

Adults in school may also struggle with having to disinfect almost everything every day. This over time can have an impact on teaching and learning activities.

In addition, COVID-19 cases in Indonesia are still very high. The rate of transmission is also increasing and has not shown a decrease. If forced, opening schools will actually make children more at risk of contracting COVID-19.