Are Our Kids Ready To Get Back To School? (Here’s What The McKinsey Report Suggests)

We all woke up to this headline

School Reopening News Unlock 4: Health ministry issues SOPs for partial reopening of schools

After 5 months, the Centre has now said that schools are allowed for senior students but is not mandatory.  The states that have already issued notification for school reopening according to unlock 4.0 guidelines from September 21 include Delhi, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh.

Students from classes 9th to 12th will be allowed to go to school to take guidance from teachers. however, that will be completely their own choice. For this, parents/guardians have to give written consent. 

Some of the SOPs (standard operation procedure) that have been put as mandatory include

• All work areas, classroom laboratories, teaching area, common utility area, etc., have to be sanitised with sodium hypochlorite solution.
• The seating arrangement should ensure that there is a distance of more than 6 feet between two students and teachers 
• Only 50 feet teaching and non-teaching staff will be called in the school

There is no word no opening schools for younger students. Children below the age of 10 are among the population particularly vulnerable to coronavirus.

Given the difficulty of the situation and variation across the globe, countries are in different stages regarding how and when they plan to reopen schools. In every model, the first step is to get the health protocols right. Once officials have a clear sense of what’s required to reduce transmission rates and save lives, they can develop robust models to minimize further learning delays and support students throughout the crisis.

In some countries where schools have already, these are some of the guidelines in place as per a report by McKinsey

• The first priority of every school system must be to reduce virus-transmission rates and protect the health and safety of students and staff. 
• Circumstances change weekly, and even countries with low case count today should be vigilant and ready to change course in the event of a resurgence.

No common template exists to determine whether to educate students remotely, bring them back into the classroom, or create a hybrid model that combines both.

What are the lessons we have learnt from countries where schools have reopened? Some European countries with small populations like Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany have successfully reopened schools in a phased manner. But most opened schools only after infection rates came down and by adhering to physical distancing and mask-wearing guidelines. Norway and Denmark reopened primary schools first and kept high schools closed.

With schools opening, priority should be

Lesson #1: Differentiate by the level of need and capability. Educators have long understood the value of tailoring curriculums and classroom environments to the needs of different age groups, students, and school systems. There is similarly no one-size-fits-all strategy for determining the optimal model for learning in the COVID-19 crisisFocus resources on students experiencing the greatest challenges.

The McKinsey report also says that as schools reopen, prioritize elementary education for in-person instruction. Younger children need a level of guidance, social interaction, and tactile-learning opportunities that are difficult to replicate in an online classroom. Also, design programmes to fit the local context. Some school systems lack the digital infrastructure, resources, or local expertise to roll out online learning. For them, the ideal remote-learning model may combine the use of the mass media, simple phone-messaging apps, and paper handouts. 

Lesson #2: Design systems specifically for remote and hybrid environments. When the pandemic struck earlier this year, many educators had little choice but to move existing classes online. Now we have the opportunity to design better solutions to maximize student learning in remote and hybrid settings.

Lesson #3: Engage students with variety and reduced complexity. Several hours of straight screen time is causing fatigue, but logging into different platforms at 20-minute intervals can be equally ineffective. The best virtual schools limit live sessions to 30 or 45 minutes and follow up with independent work to reduce fatigue and free up teachers to provide small-group and one-on-one coaching.

Lesson #4: Relationships are the foundation of learning. Teachers need to feel safe and equipped to teach. At the local level, school systems and leaders need to invest significant time in listening to the concerns of teachers and working jointly with them to create solutions. With more than half the population of teachers in schools in their 50s, everyone is afraid and rightly so. Their safety has to be kept in mind while taking this forward. 

In India, teachers, parents & school authorities are worried about the high risk of infection. Going back to school will likely look a little different from what you and your child were used to before. During the lockdown phase, we spoke to educators from across the country about online learning and its pros and cons. You can watch the webinar here.

As a parent, these are some of the questions that are playing on my mind 

• What steps has the school taken to help ensure the safety of students?
• How will the school support the mental health of students and combat any stigma against people who have been sick?

What will you do with schools opening and your kids are asked to come to school?