The dizzying increase in cases of Covid-19 in the United States, linked to the advancement of the omicron variant, has affected the functioning of schools in the country. Some institutions have decided not to resume face-to-face classes, and others suffer from a lack of manpower, as many teachers have to leave after contracting the disease.
In Texas, a school district in the city of Kyle, 35 km from the capital Austin, had to ask the parents of students to become substitute teachers. Last week, the organization that administers local schools sent an email to families encouraging parents to apply for vacancies.
The district is home to more than 20,000 students across 25 campuses. According to a survey by the institution, there are 318 students with Covid in the region, and only between Tuesday (11) and Wednesday (12) there were 241 new diagnoses reported – all in addition to the 61 active cases of the disease among employees.
On the 6th, the institution posted a vacancy announcement on Facebook aimed at parents of students, communicating that schools were hiring substitute teachers with certification or eligible for the position, albeit without certification. The text punctuated perks such as “competitive pay,” access to health insurance, ongoing training opportunities, and “exciting bonus programs.”
In the post itself, some profiles criticized the initiative. “This is a joke, support your local education system,” said one man. Another user questioned: “Instead of improving the conditions of students, teachers and employees, did you decide to hire scabs?”, referring to a movement of demands on the part of professionals.
In response, a spokeswoman for the district told Fox 7 Austin that it would be better to use parent-teachers than to close schools.
The school district generally has about 500 substitute teachers available each year, but the number has dropped to about 100 last year amid the advance of the delta variant. Since then, according to the institution’s spokesman, Tim Savoy, told the Insider portal, 200 professionals have been hired, but with the omicron “demand has increased a lot”.
Because of the surge in diagnoses, in the first week of the year some American cities decided to switch back to remote learning — for example, Atlanta, Detroit, Newark, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Chicago. In the first seven days of the year alone, 4,783 American schools had face-to-face classes suspended, more than in any other period last year, according to Burbio, a company that maps the situation of educational institutions in the country.
A survey by The Washington Post newspaper pointed out that at least 4,000 children with Covid were hospitalized in the US on the 5th, a mark higher than the peaks recorded during the last summer in the country, between June and August 2021. Last Sunday, the US still registered a record in the number of hospitalizations, taking into account all age groups.
The advancement of the omni has also affected educational institutions in other parts of the world. In Europe, the current epicenter of the pandemic, French teachers went on strike this Thursday, with criticism of the way the government has acted to curb the virus in this sector. According to the union that represents the category, 75% of the teachers stopped their activities; the Ministry of Education speaks of 38% adherence.
“We are in the 30th protocol since the beginning of the health crisis,” Vanessa Cognet, director of a rural school in Châteldon (360 km from Paris) told AFP news agency, also complaining that new instructions arrive a day before they are implemented.
On Monday (10), Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the latest protocol – and a little more flexible, to try to calm the tension. The teachers, however, continued the strike.
By the rules, when a positive case is detected in the classroom, the rest of the students must perform up to three self-tests to continue attending school. Before, children and adolescents had to undergo a first antigen test or PCR.
Previous measures caused long lines in front of pharmacies, and many parents said they had to take time off work to help their children with exams. According to the French Ministry of Health, almost 12 million tests were carried out this way last week, an increase of 44% compared to recent weeks.
In Finland, those who revolted at the central government’s guidelines to stop the spread of the virus in schools were local administrations. The minister responsible for managing Covid in the country said last week that she thought the face-to-face return to classes was not safe and recommended that institutions quarantine the entire class in case a student has the diagnosis.
In response, a group of epidemiologists wrote an open letter criticizing the remote teaching plans. “Mandatory quarantines are no longer an effective way to control the pandemic,” Taina Isosomppi, Helsinki’s health secretary, told Reuters. According to her, the schools in the metropolitan region of the capital will rebel and stop following the government’s guidance.
The spread of the omni has forced closures of educational institutions still in parts of Canada, including Ontario, the country’s most populous province; from India, like the capital, Delhi; and from Nepal. For the next three weeks, Nepalese schools will only open in person to serve as a vaccination post for teenagers aged 12 to 17.
Hong Kong will also bet on childhood immunization as a way to guarantee a return to school soon. The territory’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, ordered kindergartens and primary schools to be closed until Lunar New Year in February after community transmission of the new strain was detected to at least 40 people – according to Reuters. Hong Kong went three months without registering local cases of Covid.
Lam announced that he authorized the vaccination of children from the age of five.
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