REVIEW - Schools Slowly Reopening In Europe As Epidemiological Situation Improves

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2020) European countries have begun to gradually reopen educational institutions as part of steps to relax the restrictions introduced in a bid to curb the coronavirus, with children and pupils maintaining social distances and complying with hygiene measures.

Given that health issues had been dealt with by the sovereign EU member states, despite the call for harmonizing state measures by the European Commission, each country is deciding on its own when and how to lift the restrictions.

Currently, the situation is very different from country to country, depending on whether they were hit hard by the epidemic and if their response was efficient. The difference between Germany, Austria and Denmark, on one hand, and France and Italy, on the other, is striking. As the epidemiological situation is not that severe in the first group of countries, they are getting back to a "prudent normality" much faster with Denmark, being the first to reopen schools in mid-April.

While children fall ill and are very strong vectors of influenza, measles or other diseases, the scientific community agrees that it is not the case for the coronavirus. The younger the children are, the fewer symptoms they show when they catch the virus, and the better they go through the infection period.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, very few children have been taken to emergency wards because of COVID-19 and in Belgium, for example, only one child death has been recorded.

The spread of the epidemic through children is more of a problem for their grandparents, with the dangerous age group being after 70. For this group of seniors, the virus is deadly � one-third of people taken to emergency wards and treated by mechanical ventilators have died.

Several scientific studies have shown that during epidemics, closing schools made reducing the speed of the spread of an infection, especially if this measure is coupled with quarantining those infected. Children are more likely to contract and transmit a virus, even if they themselves do not develop symptoms.

As the school environment is well adapted to the spread of diseases, most countries fully closed educational institutions, while in Europe, for example, Sweden kept Primary schools active, with pupils maintaining social distance.

Meanwhile, a number of countries, including Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, began to register a Kawasaki-like disease among children who tested positive for the coronavirus. Therefore, another issue was the possible link between the rare Kawasaki disease, which causes heart and kidney failure, and mostly affects young children, and COVID-19 in minors.

"There is no proven link between COVID-19 and Kawasaki syndrome, which is extremely rare. Among the few children that have it, some have tested positive for COVID-19 and others have not. Various pathologies such as flu are also sometimes linked to Kawasaki-type overcharges. A general practitioner or a pediatrician must be consulted if a child has high temperatures, is abnormally listless, does not want to eat, has diarrhea," Yves Van Laethem, the spokesman for the Belgian coronavirus response center, told Sputnik.

Despite suggestions that the careful reopening of schools does not pose a threat to children's health, there are still worries that children could bring the disease to adults back home, especially to grandparents, who are still advised to keep a distance from their grandchildren.

Some parents are reluctant to return their children to schools and believe that the measure is premature, as the children's safety cannot be guaranteed at educational institutions.

"I have two children in primary school and I am still very worried. Can they guarantee the safety of children at school? They cannot! Actually, starting school again, and partly so, because the teacher takes the first half of the class in the morning, and the other in the afternoon, means very slow learning. The Ministry of Education has also announced that the pupils would not learn new subjects," Veronique Klein, a young mother of two, from the Belgian town of Waterloo, told Sputnik.

Given that school finishes in June, Klein said she decided to not take a risk and send children to school until September. The woman explained that she was also worried that her children take a bus to school, where they could contract the disease.

PEDIATRICIANS BACK OPENING OF SCHOOLS

In several European countries, pediatricians have voiced their worries about seeing children confined to the apartment for months with their parents, while a child must be able to evolve, interact and play normally. Therefore, in Belgium, 269 pediatricians and specialists have signed a petition asking the government to reopen schools.

"Allowing children to return to school and to their community is essential for avoiding collateral effects. The school, in addition to its educational and social role, offers an environment, which makes it possible to detect the signs of physical and psychological suffering of certain children," Marc Raes, the president of the Belgian Pediatric Society, told Sputnik.

According to the pediatrician, containment contributes to inequalities with an increased risk of neglect, mistreatment and lack of supervision, which can result in an increase in domestic accidents. It can also lead to sleep disturbances, anxiety and a loss of bearings, which can be detrimental to children and their development. The prolonged use of screens further accentuated by confinement also has a negative effect.

"Other advantages, such as the free canteen in certain schools, are important elements to be weighed for the most disadvantaged families. Depriving children of this additional possibility of access to a balanced diet is another attack on their basic needs," Raes said.

In addition, excessive protective measures, including removing play areas and prohibiting children from playing with each other, are not based on obvious realities and could cause anxiety in children. In these new conditions, teachers and pupils should find the right balance between the necessary barrier and hygiene measures, Raes concluded.

Meanwhile, a general practitioner from Brussels, Philippe Delsupehe, told Sputnik that he was "more worried of the exchanges between the parents at the entrance of schools than about the presence at school itself.

" However, if a child shows symptoms such as the cough and fever typical of COVID-19, they should be tested immediately to avoid the creation of a new cluster of the disease, the medic said.

In some countries, schools reopened after a calm debate and the decision was not questioned by the population, like in Denmark. However, in other countries, the discussions are still raging and the majority of parents still refuse to put their children to school, like in France.

Sweden and Iceland were the only two European countries that kept primary schools open while introducing social distancing measures for the whole period. Sweden decided to limit its containment measures to the risk groups, including seniors and people with co-morbidity factors such as asthma, overweight or a heart condition, hoping to reach the level of infection in the population at which the epidemic cannot spread anymore, namely 60 percent of people should have been infected with the virus. As of now, large cities, such as Stockholm already have more than 20 percent of people who have been hit by the virus. The authorities believe that by the end of June, 40 percent of the city population will have contracted the disease.

These two countries are exceptions since the majority of other European countries have decided to close schools. But unlike Germany or France, such states as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Slovakia do not currently plan to reopen schools before September. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa even announced the closure of schools and the continuation of distance learning until the end of 2020.

In Italy, which was heavily affected by the outbreak, schools and universities have been closed since March 5 and are not expected to resume operations until September, as the authorities fear a second wave of the disease if they reopen early.

At the same time, in Denmark, kindergartens and primary schools opened on April 15, while colleges and high schools resumed operations on May 10, as control measures put in place were not as strict as in other countries. With some restrictions being lifted, others, including social distancing, remain in force. Within the context, Danish schools are also encouraged to give lessons outside as much as possible.

In Germany, the resumption of schools was scheduled for May 4, but in some states, the reopening of schools and colleges started even earlier, on April 27.

Norway, which has also shown good results in the fight against the virus, reopened early childhood facilities on April 20, and primary and secondary schools on April 27, introducing hygiene measures and physical distancing, a limit on the number of pupils and encouraging outdoor activities. However, the reopening triggered a strong backlash among parents who launched a campaign called "My child must not be a laboratory rabbit for COVID-19," as well as an online petition.

In France, where the public criticized the government's handling of the outbreak, schools re-opened on May 11, but about 50 percent of parents have refused to send their children to school. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced on April 28 a gradual reopening of nurseries and primary schools starting on May 11, with classes limited to 15 students. Starting May 18, colleges resumed operations but only in those departments where the spread of the virus is very weak.

Most other European countries have already resumed or will resume lessons before the summer. Others, such as Cyprus, Spain, Estonia and Greece, are considering allowing only high school students to return to school, in particular, those preparing for a final exam. Conversely, Finland is reopening schools for all students starting May 14, except for high school students who maintain distance education. In each of these countries, social distancing measures are taken and wearing masks is often compulsory, if not recommended.

END-OF-YEAR EXAMS AMID PANDEMIC

In Germany, 37 percent of teachers surveyed in mid-April by the Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, one of the leading private foundations of Europe, say that they are in contact with less than half of their pupils. In Austria, the share of pupils being cut off from distance education is estimated at 9 percent, but associations say that it could affect up to 15 percent of students. Though computers are being made available to children, with distance learning the dropout rate is worryingly high. In Italy, teachers' unions estimated in early April that the dropout rate was almost 20 percent.

Specialists have said that given the prolongation of confinement and social distancing measures, the arrangement of end-of-year exams should be rethought everywhere in Europe, as the countries are to decide whether to hold, postpone, adapt or cancel them.

In general, few countries have decided to hold the end-of-year exams. In Germany, states have the option of maintaining or postponing the Abitur � the end-of-secondary school exam. Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria maintain their exam schedule for the time being. In Finland, the baccalaureate exams were brought forward one week to take place in mid-March. In Italy, Slovenia and Luxembourg, the maintenance of exams depends on the date of reopening of schools, and therefore on the deconfinement strategy envisaged by the states.

Other countries have for the moment decided to postpone their examinations. This is the case of Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, certain German states, Greece, Ireland, Latvia and Malta. In Spain, higher education entrance exams are postponed to take place between June and July.

Finally, the outright cancellation of the exams was decided upon in Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.

The situation is still fluctuating since most countries have adopted very short delays for their decisions to be applied, in order to have the necessary flexibility to fight the epidemic.

"For students ending a cycle, whether a primary school or secondary school, it is a pity because it is an important step in their life, one that you remember all your life," a secondary school teacher in Brussels, Francois Debock, told Sputnik.

According to the teacher, for them, it is a key moment of pride and satisfaction of entering the world as adults, or the world of "the tall kids" for those leaving primary school � and they are deprived of this moment. This is more of the pandemic's collateral damage, Debock concluded.