This week Doug Ford revealed his back to school plan. He's not getting high marks. Bruce Arthur writes:
The safe care of our children is a fundamental social compact. So many parents have been stretched to breaking while trying to work from home and take care of their children. Society and economies are built around child care. Parents want to send their kids back to school, if it’s safe.
And while children suffer far less from this disease, mercifully, the science is moving towards the conclusion that they have an equal ability to spread it. Which has potential implications for school staff, parents, and the inevitable rings of spreading contagion. And a lot of parents love their kids, and so are anxious.
Unfortunately, Doug Ford is selling this plan with all the reassurance and élan of a bear driving a garbage truck. It’s not great.
“Let’s give this a shot, at least,” said Ford, as part of his daily media address. “We’re going to give it everything we can, and make sure that we move forward, and pray to god that everyone’s safe. That’s what I want. Just the kids to be safe.”
The ugly truth is -- as Dr. Anthony Fauci reminded Americans a few days ago -- this is an experiment. And kids and teachers are the guinea pigs. Even the experts don't know what's going to happen:
“This is what they call a wicked problem,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Toronto. “There’s no right answer. We can talk about lower class sizes, we can talk about masks, we can talk about dumping in money, we can talk about policies, but none of it is going to eliminate the risk.
“Even with 15 kids in a class, are you going to be able to enforce physical distancing? Not a chance ... (but) I think there is a lot of attention, rightfully so, on trying to get these class sizes to be smaller, because it probably will help to some extent. Yes, from a strictly epidemiological standpoint, the smaller the ratio, the better. The fewer kids, the better. But the question is, how much more? I don’t know the answer.”
I suspect that, for the foreseeable future, online education will be the norm. But there are lots of kids who won't do well online. Either they don't have the access, the equipment, or the temperament to succeed in the enterprise.
As is the case everywhere, the pandemic has underscored the inequalities that exist in the way we have organized things. And the ones who suffer most are those at the bottom of the ladder.
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12 comments:
And teachers in every province have been for years trying to convince politicians the value in reducing the number of students in each classroom, and for many good reasons. Public schools are obligated to include students of every capability, both physical as well as learning and/or English speaking skills. However, most provinces, especially with right-leaning politicians and with the support of their backers, who tend to prattle on about those "lazy teachers who only work 9 months of the year" or "those left-leaning teachers trying to influence our kids" have been consistently pushing for larger classrooms. This has resulted in a proliferation of private schools who are not only receiving funds originally intended for PUBLIC education facilities, they are also receiving large fees from parents whose goal is to give their children a leg up on those in public institutions. On top of that, these same politicians continue to chip away at provincial education budgets in general.
Perhaps once, or if, we get through this awful pandemic, politicians will understand that cutting education and health budgets in order to award massive tax breaks to large corporations and the wealthy as a first priority is not the most prudent use of our taxes.
Education has been under assault for decades, Lulymay -- often from people who never got much of an education in the first place.
Online education can't replace in-class learning. First, it doesn't provide child-care so parents can work. Second, it doesn't provide the opportunities for social interaction that kids need. Third, it's no accident that Ontario didn't count the marks students got after the shutdown (online learning) towards their final grades. My neighbour who teaches grade three started receiving writing assignments using high school and university level English. Fourth, students doing online learning are endlessly distracted by their phones - texting, gaming, youtubing, etc. This can be controlled in class, it can't online. Finally, some classes don't lend themselves to online learning - Phys Ed, Shop, science experiments to name a few.
In my view, returning to school in September is the right thing to do. Yes, there are risks, but other countries have shown these can be successfully controlled. The key will be mandatory masks worn at all times when not eating. Anybody not wearing a mask properly should immediately be required to leave, as school policy is to show no tolerance for behaviour that endangers others. There should also be mandatory temperature checks at least daily. People should be scanned with an instant-read thermometer as they enter and if they feel unwell later in the day. These are the minimal requirements. They should be strictly enforced, even if distancing and handwashing are not.
Unfortunately, Ontario seems to be leaving temperature checks up to parents and allowing exceptions to mask wearing. This is not good.
Cap
I agree that in-class learning is superior to online learning, Cap. The problem is that enforcing those protocols won't be easy. I say that having watched was has happened where we live. Our community is built around tourism. And tourists are not showing much respect for the protocols.
Truly, the re-opening or non-reopening of our schools pose major risks.The immediate spread of the virus in school districts which have reopened in the USA warn how difficult it will be to manage it. If the protection of students and staff are not of the greatest importance to the exclusion of all other factors, regardless of the expense, we will be in a heap of trouble.
CED
Experience should teach us that -- unless we have the ability to test everyone and to quickly trace contacts -- as well as to wear masks and to stay apart, the virus will win, CED. It's not easy to do those things in a school setting.
The pictures say it all: How South Korean schools are reopening
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/05/26/pictures-say-it-all-how-south-korean-schools-are-reopening/
Schooling and the pandemic both have to be taken seriously.
The plexiglass and masks tell the story, Toby. Schools can reopen. But it will take careful planning and investment in protection.
Would that we had the discipline of the South Koreans and the societal focus that we see across Asia as the near universal acceptance of masks demonstrates.
Instead, we of the culture of immediate gratification are succumbing to "covid fatigue" and the rise of indifference. We can ask much of our school children but how do we instill a sense of that in their parents? What does it tell a child if the parents or other members of the extended family act in ways contradictory of the school regime?
I'm increasingly cynical, Mound. We don't seem to possess the character traits we need to meet a future of cascading challenges. I continue to hope that the young will reject the folly of their elders. But, as this pandemic takes hold, the young seem focused on having a good time -- while there still is time.
I have 3 children, the oldest is entering his fourth and final year in university, his course load will be conducted on-line. My 15, (soon to be 16) year old daughter is entering grade 11, she will be doing at least some of her courses on-line, she lives with her mother and she's still waiting on details. My youngest is entering grade two....and if schools are open he will be attending. We're lucky that amazing boy is a very healthy young man, I cannot remember the last time he got sick.
Ontario Public Health recently published the estimated IFR (infection fatality rates) based on age, and for kids aged 0-9 they peg it at 0.002, that's not two tenths, or two one hundredths, but 2 one thousandth of a single percentage....in actuarial terms a 0-9 year old child is at greater risk of dying on the bus ride to school than they are from Covid.
Of course that's the monster man, as I sometimes call him....but obviously he'll be coming home to mommy and daddy, and he might infect us. For my age bracket the IFR is put at 0.6% while my wife does better at 0.15%
Basically for anyone aged 60 or less the IFR is under 1%. It tops out for those 80+ at 9.3%. The full table is on page 9 of the following linked document.
https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/epi/2020/06/covid19-epi-case-identification-age-only-template.pdf?la=en
There's no easy answer to this....keep schools closed and some kids will suffer, some more than others as you note very well Owen, we're all in the same storm but some have bigger challenges and obstacles to overcome.
I'm assuming that a second wave is coming...at least in terms of case numbers. And I don't think it matters whether there are 10 kids in the classrooms, or 15 or 25 or even 35.....schools, even modern buildings....they are petri dishes.
But this isn't new ground. In 1968 to 1970 there was the Hong Kong flu that reportedly killed 1 million people globally when the world's population was half of what it is now. Society didn't close down then, schools were not shuttered....the baby boom generation was out partying and protesting and living their lives.
Challenging times, but we've survived worse....we will get through this.
We'll get through this, Gordie -- if we act collectively. The problem is that we seem to have an increasingly difficult time doing anything collectively.
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