Parents anxious about COVID-19 still want online schooling as option

A few thousands of parents congregating on a Facebook group are insisting on their right to keep their children home when schools re-open.

They are calling for online schooling to be retained as an option when schools reopen in September, as fears over the recent spike in COVID-19 grow. 

The Facebook group ‘Covid-19: We want online learning in September’ has amassed some 3,000 members. Julie Ellul, a mother of three, told MaltaToday the parents think a high-risk environment such as a school made it easy for children to pass on the COVID-19 virus to vulnerable people in their family.

“Despite the argument that symptoms are indeed mild in children, the long-term effects of such a new virus are yet to be seen,” Ellul said.

Malta is currently registering between 30 to 50 COVID-19 cases a day. The island now has the second-highest rate of new cases on a 14-day average in the EU.

Ellul argued that even from the point of view of schools, having online schooling as an option would only benefit them positively. “If those who were able to keep their children at home did so, then there would be fewer children in the classroom physically.”

Ellul said that even though keeping three children under the age of ten home was no easy task, the health of her family was of the utmost importance. “Education is important and has always been in our family, but it is not the only thing we have to consider,” she said. 

To date, the government has yet to publish protocols addressing what will happen once schools reopen. On TVM’s Xtra, Education Minister Owen Bonnici said that with five weeks left until schools reopen, education authorities will wait for the official health guidelines to then develop procedures.

But for Ellul, and many others in the group, the government’s lack of action on schools has only intensified fears. “No matter what measures were put into place, I don’t feel comfortable sending my children to school.”

These fears are also present among educators – a recent survey by the Union of Professional Educators’ claimed that 87% of member-educators oppose a physical return to classrooms in fear of contracting COVID-19. The union, the smaller of the two teachers’ unions, includes a large cohort of learning support educator.

The parents’ group on Facebook insists that should a student, teacher or LSE be found positive, the entire class would have to be quarantined, putting parents in an uncomfortable situation with their work commitment, since they would have to go under quarantine.

They also argue that the infected person may have had contact with other staff or students, and because of this more people would end up having to be quarantined.

“During the quarantine period, children will still be losing time for their education. When discussing a plan of action on re-schooling, it is important to keep in mind that schools will open in wintertime when flu is common,” Ellul said.

“What will happen when a child is sick or suffers from an allergy? Would they need to carry out the swab test each time? What about if schools open and need to close again due to COVID-19? Wouldn’t this be disruptive for teachers, parents and most students? This could be preventable if the option of online schooling is given to the parents.”

Ellul said that her children would not be returning to school physically until the number of cases dropped considerably. “There are plenty of ways that the government can root out abuse of online schooling at home: one of them could be introducing a fine for not attending online school for more than three days – which is what is done for physical attendance. I don’t see why this can’t be an option in 2020,” Ellul said.

Ellul said that despite the argument that children do need socialisation with peers, even that will be limited by social distancing. “Asking children to social distance could negatively affect them psychologically with certain school activities and outings being impossible.”

She added that with COVID-19 restrictions preventing children from sharing items, this could become difficult to control for teachers especially with younger pupils. “Students may also be asked to keep a mask on and this may not be easy for children… What about breakfast club and Klabb 3-16 where you will have a mixture of children from different classrooms?” they asked. 

The parents’ group claims that there is a higher risk inside middle and secondary schools where children change classrooms for lessons.

Ellul raised the point that grandparents will be unable to pick up children who are attending school physically, forcing parents to leave work early. “I think instead of fighting us, the government should be putting measures into place in case we have to close again because God forbid, we’re going to end up in the same position we were in March, with no one knowing what to do,” she said.

“If the parent and teacher or LSE cooperate, the parent will be involved more in the education of their children and can monitor better their progress. If at least several parents keep their children at home and will be offered the option of online learning, this will help in having a lower infection rate on the island. We will have healthier kids and healthier families,” Ellul said.