Schools still left to sink or swim

OF THE tools used by educators, many students are familiar with one: sink or swim. Simply put, the approach is to throw the learner into the deep end of the subject matter – for example, a foreign language – and see what happens. Through industry and instinct, the student will “figure it out” and stay afloat, if not thrive.

Or at least that’s the theory.

When it comes to adjusting to the “new normal” through implementing anti-covid19 measures, it seems schools across the country have been left to sink or swim by the authorities.

The results of this experiment do not appear promising.

We’ve been told almost 300 covid19 infections were reported in schools in the space of a week last month – but no one is rushing to stand fully behind that figure.

“I don’t have a detailed breakdown,” Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said on Wednesday.

This is the first worrying symptom of malaise. The question of infection rates in schools requires extreme vigilance and, therefore, accurate data collection.

But even before any analysis of the infection rate is done to determine whether is it getting worse or better; whether it is par for the course or above-average in terms of the national population; whether it is responsive to adjusted measures or immune – we must consider the confusing picture arising due to official accounts and stakeholder reports in both Trinidad and Tobago.

Schools supervisor Sherry-Ann Rollocks-Hackett said in Tobago a few weeks ago, at a THA Executive Council news conference: “I am seeing reports of incidents in our sister isle of Trinidad but we don’t have a large quantity of our students who are testing positive.”

But on Wednesday another stakeholder painted a different picture.

TTUTA Tobago officer Bradon Roberts warned, “We are hearing about positive cases on the ground – but not from officials. And that is where the concern is.”

The need for privacy might account for the official reluctance to delve into figures.

But it cannot account for other reports suggesting students are being allowed to circulate in classes even though they are awaiting test results. Some reports suggest children from homes where there are confirmed cases are also going to school. One representative has asked for testing for students to be fast-tracked.

The State’s response thus far has been relatively sanguine.

“The UN advocates that in prioritising the imposition of pandemic restrictions, other sectors be considered for closing, with the closure of schools only as a last resort,” Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said on Wednesday.

But closure is not the only option.

There needs to be consideration of shift systems, reintegration and deepening of hybrid learning – and, of course, the elephant in the classroom: strenuous promotion of covid19 vaccination.