Education Minister Chris Hipkins is confident schools can operate safely at alert level 3 if the health and safety measures are followed. Photo / Getty Images
Education Minister Chris Hipkins is confident schools can operate safely at alert level 3 if the health and safety measures are followed. Photo / Getty Images
EDITORIAL:
The immediate area of the Government's focus as it responds to the Covid-19 pandemic in past weeks has, of course, been health.
Now we appear to be tracking on the right path in that area - with daily new case numbers in the single figures, border closures and quarantinesin place, and increased testing and tracing showing minimal community transmission - focus turns to the economy as the Government looks to open up New Zealand to business. In turn, this leads to education, to enable workers' children to return to the classroom and begin the equally important business of learning again.
This week, as we exit alert level 4 and our month-long lockdown, there is a notable feeling of - if not full-blown excitement, given the still-tight restrictions - anticipation certainly. Yet it is clear for parents, caregivers and education providers gearing up to open the school gates, there is also much anxiety in the mix, too.
This is understandable. For the past month we have been programmed to fear this unseen killer that has caused so much loss and heartache overseas in particular. We have made major and fundamental changes to the way in which we live, work, study and interact in an effort to combat the spread of the virus here. The messaging has been - and continues to be in large part - act as if you have Covid-19 and everyone around you has Covid-19.
It is a huge turnaround to start relaxing that thinking - even only slightly and even if we are desperate to do so.
Parents are rightly anxious about sending their precious offspring back out into a world that many of us adults are still not venturing fully out into. Schools and early childhood centres are rightly worried about being able to ensure the health and safety of their young charges and staff alike. And - as was apparent in the early days of alert level 4 - there has been some confusion about the risks, rules and expectations of a new alert level.
The Government and health and education ministry officials have been working on ways to mitigate the physical health risks, and balance them against the flipsides: the potential psychological risks of keeping children in lockdown too long, the long-term impact on children's learning and progress, and the need for parents to get back to work.
Children have not been immune to the virus and there have been child deaths associated with it. Yet Education Minister Chris Hipkins and director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield say the international experience so far is that the health risk to youngsters is generally low and the impact on those infected generally far less severe than on adults and the elderly. In New Zealand's case, the rate of community transmission of the virus is now very low, and that gives reassurance it is safe for limited numbers of children to return to education facilities - with precautionary measures in place.
Not all epidemiologists and academics agree, saying more evidence is required. One worry is the extent to which children can convey the virus to adults, particularly the elderly, who are the most likely to get very sick and die from the virus. That will be something people looking to expand their family bubbles in alert level 3 should take into consideration.
The Early Childhood Council wants centres to stay closed until alert level 2. At Morrinsville College (Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's old school), principal John Inger has accused the Government of forcing teachers to be "child-minders" and warning of the "potential disaster" of schools becoming "incubators for the virus". But the Auckland Primary Principals' Association says all its schools will be opening and it believes the national sentiment is largely to do the same.
We have to start somewhere. A partial opening - up to year 10 inclusive and largely for the children of essential workers and others who must return to work - is a sensible way to begin.
While the Government clearly desires teachers back in classrooms, Hipkins says he will not "force" early childhood centres to open under alert level 3. That flexibility is welcome.
Children pick up on the stress and anxiety of adults around them. If a facility is not ready to welcome kids back, and not comfortable doing so, it is perhaps better for all involved that it doesn't open. But many are willing and able to do so. If centres and schools can implement the desired measures effectively - the likes of small bubbles, distancing where possible, strict hygiene practices and cleaning routines, contact tracing - there is every reason kids will readily adopt the new norm. After all, they are remarkably resilient. If essential and other returning workers need to be able to send their children back to the classroom, they should feel reassured the measures are designed to keep their kids safe.
All parents must now play their part. The Government recognises there will be some who need to take advantage of the partial education opening. But the messaging is that parents who can keep their kids learning at home should do so. An expanded bubble with a caregiver may help with that. Those parents who do send their kids back into education facilities must ensure sick children stay at home, and that family bubbles are strictly maintained outside the classroom, as are good hygiene practices.
Like a toddler's first steps, these first few days back in the old school yard may feel a bit shaky, but if we all continue to follow the rules there is a better chance of the country getting up and running and moving into a "new normal" as soon as possible.
