I think no, because second wave of COVID-19 is expected in the coming winter.

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2020-10-26-as-winters-approach-experts-warn-potential-increase-in-covid-19

I feel it is important to protect students from exposure as much as possible. Still there are restriction in movement and transportation is also not normal. However, can be open for higher classes in phases where it is absolutely essential.

Thank you Shrishendu.@

Dear Itishree Padhi About 2/3rd of an academic calendar has already succumbed to Covid-19; I consider it good to wait for another 2-3 months in order to take decision to reopen the schools and colleges.

Regards!

Interesting question and replies.

For what is worth in my home country, Greece, even though restrictions still apply, schools have not closed yet, as it happened in March.

However, in Higher Education most classes are still done by distance. Expections are clinical, laboratory classes and classes with rather low number of students.

Discussions around this topic continue though.

Ma'am, I think we should go for blended approach and open schools for a limited extend by maintaining physical distencing. It's been 8 months and counting. So, we shouldn’t shut educational institutions so long. We should shift online and when necessary we may go face-to-face. Thanks.

Thank you Md Habibur Ra@hman Konstantinos Karampelasd Habibur Rahman And Arvind

for your insightful congratulations

I believe that with strict biosecurity measures, schools and universities can be reopened, although it all depends on the contagiousness of each country.

Thank you so much Wilmer Lopez ilmer Lopez

Konstantinos Karampelas Thank you for your recommendation

Itishree Padhi Thank you for your recommendation

The streets, markets and parks are full of people

In Italy, elementary schools have been closed again (soon also the other school levels).

In the UK they are open and this remains a topic of considerable debate.

Yes, of course! But it is necessary to have antivirus conditions.

It is probably depends on your location. If your country have a better response on the virus, why not? I mean with proper instructions and protocols it will be possible. Otherwise, it is better to "play safe" and postpone this academic year for our safety. Yet, there are other ways to open it, it can be a online class which divided into two categories; synchronous and asynchronous.

Thank you very much Michael Gabriel Zagir Ataev Neil Dagnall Gioacchino de Candia Yousif Yaqoob Yousif

Nutrition fallout of school closures: Given the kind of undesirable outcomes of keeping the schools closed as revealed by a news report from India, in terms of "the nutrition fallout of school closures", I felt that the better kept functioning" .. the effects of the pandemic wouldn't have been this much as anticipated by the authorities while deciding to close the schools.. But, I don't endorse fully to the idea of keeping the open everywhere.. certainly careful monitoring and adoption of safety measures could have helped to a larger extent (read the news report by Jayashree B and Gopinath, R as attached).

In Spain, we are working with half the people in the groups in order to be able to keep social distancing, we apply all the safety hygienic measures, work with the windows wide open, and follow the rules and regulations from the education department. And I think it's working better than teaching in confinement, anyway now teachers are much better prepared than six months ago, so it confinement is the solution to stop covid19, be it. NO WORRIES!

Seems like it is a trade off between safe environments for teaching staff and pupils and the balance between parents being able to work. Safety and keeping healthy are the most important aspect here. Measures are in place, and i'm sure most people are doing everything they can to remain safe and protect each other from the spread of COVID. Certainly a difficult balance no doubt.

The key issue should be personal and collective health and well-being.

It's time to reopen schools

Covid-19 pandemic will last longer than expected

Itishree Padhi

Dear Professor,

You have raised a very nice question.

The decision to reopen the schools and colleges, at least in India, does not really depend on the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic will go on for a long time and if we wait for it to vanish then probably schools and colleges will never reopen.

The decision to reopen schools and colleges depends on the infrastructure of our medical sector. What will happen if there is a sudden rise in the number of the infected persons as a result of reopening of schools and colleges? If this question is asked in the context of India, we would probably have to depend on nature to come forward and do a miracle.

It is true that for the last so many months our education and research sector have got a setback. To solve the problem, let us please use digitization and internetization. I just now wrote in e thread in RG that there was a time when "Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization" changed the course of the civilization. Today digitization and internetization may do the same again.

To sum up, it is my personal opinion that we can reopen schools and colleges, at least right now. We will have to carry on with online education, for some time to come.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Anamitra.

Well, of course the response of the authorities will depend on the situation in each country. In my case, I work with adult students and that could make the difference whether you work in primary, secondary school or adult education. Responsability and health are two important issues here, so we have to try to find a balance between both.

Der Mensch ist ein soziales Wesen, wir brauchen physischen Kontakt, auch wenn es nur darum geht, in derselben Umgebung zusammen zu bleiben. Bildung hat einen grundlegenden Wert, weil sie uns hilft, uns darauf vorzubereiten, Teil einer Gesellschaft zu werden. Das Risiko, zu lange eingesperrt zu bleiben, besteht darin, dass es für Probanden in der Ausbildung schwieriger wird, sich wieder dem Leben in der Gesellschaft anzuschließen. Wir brauchen wirksamere Maßnahmen als beschränkt zu sein. Bildung muss ihre Türen für neue Formen des sozialen Kontakts öffnen.

estamos entre dos posiciones, por un lado los niños que reciben clases en casa y muestran estragos porque solo reciben órdenes y orientaciones del docente y muchas veces los padres no los pueden apoyar. no se interrelacionan con sus pares, a veces tienen hermanos que están estudiando en los mismo tiempos y no se abastecen con el internet, otros niños que ya no pueden acceder a educación por falta de economía, niños expuestos a observar violencia en casa, etc.,docentes que luchan por apoyar a sus estudiantes y la otra cara docentes indiferentes que solo se quejan y piden y reclaman, no ven que todos estamos sufriendo una crisis no avisorada. Y la otra posición de retornar a clases porque nada pude reemplazar a la interacción entre pares y con los profesores, en cuanto al desarrollo de competencias cognitivas, afectivas y procedimentales, pudiendo intercalarse con una mixta. Muchos aspectos por colocar en una balanza, que posiblemente no se pueda medir en toda partes por igual.

Not exactly. It is going to be a very delicate decision that needs to be taken after studying the situation of each country. Which parent would like to send his/her child to School knowing well the new "normal" into which covid 19 has pushed the whole human family into?

There are stipulated guides for reducing COVID-19; if these guides are well monitored and implemented, schools can reopen.

We have excellent control of coronavirus in Australia, and our schools are back, but we will adhere with all rules to minimise infection/transmission and keep our students and staff safe.

No, in my opinion, the schools should not open now. If we see the case of Andhra Pradesh, after the reopening of schools many students and teachers have been infected with Corona virus. So, it is not at all advisable to reopen the schools now. After 2 or 3 months, the next academic session may start with a new vigour.

Hi Friend Educators, schools opened in United States on their schedule, however there were no students till October, and in late Oct we started with Hybrid for elementary and now Middle as well. Hopefully, High schools will be going on Hybrid in the end of January. But we are all following Covid-19 protocols in schools even without students (wearing masks).

Thank you very much Ayesha Kalim

In order to preserve the health of all of us and future generation, i think that there is no need to rush to open colleges yet

Yes I agree

Thank you Saltanat Zharylkassynovna. Ibadullayeva

It depends upon the infrastructure facilities of the concerned institution, its monitoring mechanism and nature of sensitization of the students. Many institutions are slowly opening up. They are bringing students to the institutions on a rotation basis. We must also think it from the viewpoint of the students. Their voices should be heard on this matter. We must start learning to live with Corona. Now the second wave has come to many countries. We don’t know when this virus will come under control or totally disappear from our planet. Against this backdro, the important question is: how long the schools and colleges will remain closed?

I think no, because second wave of COVID-19 is expected in the coming winter.

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2020-10-26-as-winters-approach-experts-warn-potential-increase-in-covid-19

Thank you Arvind

Thank you Very much for your insigtf response Deepak Kumar Behera

It depends. In South Africa, not all families have resources for online learning. The rate of Covid-19 infections has drastically declined. It is Spring season, I suspect that has something to do with the reduced number of infections. I also take note on how many schools are applying the social distancing rule by allocating few learners in classes and in the school premises per day. Majority of the schools are using the so-called Rotational time-table; learners do not go to school daily but as per allocated timetable.

Grade 12 external examinations have also started. I do not see any other way of writing these exams without physically going to school.

For tertiary institutions, I do not think it is a good idea. Since majority of students own cellphone (if not all), online curriculum delivery and assessment is the way to go. In South Africa, one institution has a capacity of accommodating thousands of students. This group is uncontrollable, like learners in primary and high schools. The system itself would not allow for control over them when they change classes and during lunch times. We live in the 4IR world, therefore, I think it is a great opportunity for the world to embark on it. It would be too easy for the tertiary students to do this.

I agree with the opinion of Mr.Arvind Singh

Dear Itishree Padhi in my country, Germany, the government has imposed what they call a "lockdown light" for the entire month of November. "Lockdown light" means that e.g. restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, museums and cinemas must close, while regular shopping remains possible. Most importantly, however, schools and universities remain open in November. For more informations on this please see the following link entitled "Schools In Germany Remain Open Amid A New Lockdown"

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/06/932214981/schools-in-germany-remain-open-amid-a-new-lockdown?t=1604765673342

Coronavirus cases are going to surge even higher over the next few weeks, former the United States Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said during an interview on CNBC on Friday the 6th November.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-11-07-20-intl/h_2f4261e5d80c3c9f4950b553a891fea5 

So, it would not be wise to reopen the school, colleges, and universities right now.

Dear Itishree Padhi,

Thanks for your nice question and thinking for the students. It is an important thing that due to covid 19 pandemic our children are not going to school or College. Really it is a great concern for our children. However, the life is more valuable thing than education. At present, the no. of new patients and death rate both of are increasing day by day, therefore, i think that it is not the optimum time to open the school or College.

No, for me, it isn't time to reopen, in Italy.

In my country we re-opened right before the examination period in August only for the examination classes to facilitate preparation. This only lasted a week since schools began closing down one per day due to Covid exposure. It's risky for schools to re-open but maybe creative ways can be thought of to allow a minimal number of children and teachers on compound in the first instance.

Thank you so much Kelvin Mutter for explaining your situation in Canada. Uncertainty and anxiety getting more in view of second wave of Corona. We in our state are teaching on line as schools are declared closed till December end and colleges and universities till November end. And we conducted exams on line for out going students to go for new admission.

Thank you Kelvin Mutter once again.

Thank you so much for rightly contributing and sharing views Adita Maharaj Dina Giacomazzi Terri Purvis

I think not yet, due to the increase in cases of COVID-19 infections.

Dear Itishree Padhi,

When in July and August 2020 a decrease in the daily number of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus infections was recorded in many countries, there were hopes that perhaps the first wave of the pandemic will be the last and children will be able to start education at school from September 2020 in the new school year, already in the traditional, stationary mode, while maintaining certain anti-pandemic safety instruments (e.g. wearing protective masks, frequent hand disinfection, social distance at least 1.5 m). However, in the fall of 2020, the second wave of the pandemic appeared and the process of traditional education was switched to e-learning again. Currently (January 2021), vaccination programs for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) have started. However, a third wave of the pandemic has emerged in some countries, triggered by a new variant of the Coronavirus characterized by a higher level of infectivity. In individual countries, government pandemic risk management and crisis management teams analyze the pandemic situation on an ongoing basis, including the changing daily number of new coronavirus infections, and decide on new lockdowns as the number of new infections and deaths from Coronavirus increases. Therefore, whether students return to school and students return to university, to the full-time mode of education from February 2021, depends on many factors that determine the state of a pandemic in a given country.

Regards,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Until we have COVID-19 under control, it is foolish to rely on children to act responsibly and socially distance and practice effective hygiene regimes which are required to enable normal general school and, in particular, classroom behaviour.

Definitly it is not.

It depends on the situation of the respective country. At present, where lockdown is going on, there is no scope to open the school, however, where everythings is open, there is no justification to close the educational institutions like University.

Dear Stephan C. Mann,

Thank you so much for following the answer and providing your recommendations

Before we control COVID-19. At the same time, we must also seriously think about the development and expansion of online teaching in the future. We will face the challenges and adaptability of online teaching.