Learning From A Country That Has Reopened Its Schools

Illustration (Andy Falconer / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Several countries have started to reopen schools after months of closure to stem the outbreak of COVID-19. At least more than 1.5 billion students in more than 190 countries were closed.

Countries that have opened schools include Vietnam and Germany. In addition to continuing school activities safely, reopening schools is aimed at ending problems that experts say are hurting students and causing undue stress to teachers around the world.

Quoting Vox, according to some experts reopening schools is worth the risk, given the fact that children and youth are considered less susceptible to COVID-19 than parents. Although data on virus transmission in children are inconclusive.

In fact, there is no single solution for how the state makes school reopening protocols. Each country has its own way.

German

In Germany, for example, in mid-May, the New York Times told how high school students in Neustrelitz, northern Germany attend school. Before going to school, students must first take a coronavirus swab test. Those with negative results will get a green sticker, which means they can walk freely in school without wearing a mask.

This procedure must be carried out every four days to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Both students and parents are satisfied with this policy because it gives a great sense of security in the classroom.

In addition, parents who work at home are greatly helped because their children are back at school. This greatly helps reduce the burden on parents to teach their children at home.

"Schools are the backbone of our society and economy," Neustrelitz Principal Henry Tesch told the New York Times. "Without school parents can't work and children's valuable learning time just evaporates," Tesch said.

Such testing regulations have not been implemented throughout Germany. However, it will continue to be adopted in many schools in the near future.

Apart from testing for the corona virus, other rules that must be applied in schools include: it is mandatory to use masks in classrooms, study chairs are arranged apart, and everyone is required to wear thicker clothes because the classroom windows are left open to increase air circulation.

The application of this rule is not without problems. For example, about the rules for seating distances that must be far apart. Not all schools can implement it because of limited buildings.

At the Neustrelitz school, for example, only about a third of all students are in class. One class can be divided into two rooms. This of course makes the teacher have to manage two classes at once.

From Germany, we can take a lesson that keeping control of diseases by testing and minimizing transmission is one good way to keep teaching and learning activities going.

Vietnamese

If in Germany students are required to take a swab test before going to school, in Vietnam, students only need to take a temperature check at the school entrance. If the temperature is not high, they can enter the classroom, but on condition that they still wear masks.

Some people may feel uncomfortable wearing a mask for hours on end. However, one of the students at the West Hanoi school, Pham Anh Kiet (11) did not object. "I feel safe wearing a mask and checking my temperature," he was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

As in Germany, Vietnmam schools are also obliged to maintain social distancing. It's just that the challenge of keeping students physically distanced is too difficult, said a school principal in Hanoi, Nguyen Xuan Khang, told AFP. "They are very active," he said.

Meanwhile, another challenge in Vietnam in reopening schools during the COVID-19 outbreak is the issue of sanitation. This is because about 30 percent of Vietnamese schools do not have access to clean water and soap. That means students will find it difficult to wash their hands for 20 seconds as an important effort in preventing COVID-19.