EDITORIAL: COVID-19 outbreak among SSCE students

The federal government recently reopened schools to enable exit classes to sit for the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE).

However, the Secretary to the Federal Government and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, announced in his recent national broadcast that some students sitting for the exam are reported to have contracted Coronavirus.

Nigeria just recently passed the mark of 50,000 recorded cases of COVID-19, and now has over one thousand fatalities in the country.

The photograph of a COVID-19 patient circulated on social media writing his examination in a health facility drove home the point.

Given the risk of increased cases due to the reopening of schools, debates about whether schools should reopen are ongoing and various bodies, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) have weighed in on the dilemma.

However, there is still no consensus on a universal approach to allowing students and pupils back in school.

Chief and deputy medical officers across the UK stated that “additional time out of the classroom would increase inequalities, reduce life chances of children and could exacerbate physical and mental health issues”.

They said that international evidence did not suggest a surge in infections following the reopening of schools, a point they admitted was not conclusive.

They believe that given a choice between the risk of increased cases and children missing lessons, the latter is worse.

They buttress this view with evidence that school children have a much lower risk of dying from COVID-19.

WEF has pointed out that this common justification for reopening schools is one that holds a higher risk for developing countries than advanced nations.

Statistics indicate that children in developing countries are typically in more contact with adults – particularly elderly adults, thereby increasing the risk of transmission not just amongst students but to the larger population of elderly adults.

This is because such children could infect their parents and loved ones when they return home at the end of the day’s work.

WHO, on its part, says Africa would be worse off if the schools remain closed for a longer period.

The foremost health organization stated that “at least 18 million children from Sub-saharan Africa benefit from school meals children being out of schools contributes to increased food insecurity”.

As the Nigerian government proposes reopening schools to the broader set of students beyond exit classes, we should also weigh the risk of a rise in cases versus the negative impact of keeping children out of school for an extended period.

In terms of the risk of rising cases of COVID-19 infected students due to reopening of schools, it is necessary to track and analyse the data on infections rate among SSCE students who have resumed.

The federal government announcement did not give any details about this data. Tests also need to be carried out on all supposedly ill students to verify the nature of the illness.

While there may be genuine cases of COVID-19, it is common knowledge that the fear of exams could make even the healthiest of people fall ill or “claim” to be sick, especially in the case of some mischievous students who are ill-prepared and do not want to fail.

Studies have highlighted some of the adverse effects of keeping children out of school in developing countries.

When countries like Sierra-Leone had to close schools for long periods during the Ebola p weandemic, there were rising cases of teen pregnancies, reduced re-enrollment in schools, increase in crime, physical and mental health challenges etc. Parents report that some of these are already happening in Nigeria.

As a developing nation, Nigeria seems to have more to lose if we leave our children out of school for longer.

We should, therefore, focus more on putting proper measures in place before resumption.

While many schools are already doing this, an equally important follow-on should be the consistent and continuous monitoring of compliance to safety protocols within schools.

COVID-19 is not static and so mandating students to take a one-time COVID test is not enough.

If students have contact with others outside the school (including boarding schools that have staff who commute daily outside the school premises), the transmission of the virus could happen on any given day.

Therefore, the continuous enforcement and monitoring of basic rules of hygiene and COVID-19 safety protocols are probably the simplest ways of preventing community transmission as schools reopen.

Also, ongoing campaigns about the realities of the virus must continue. Sadly, there are still people who do not believe that the virus exists.

They often think and say that COVID-19 is just propaganda or a disease of the rich and powerful.

Additionally, every school, as part of their “first responder” duties, should create a process for early identification and management of any outbreaks of COVID-19 in their schools.

If this is in place, whenever such cases occur, the transmission will be quickly contained through contact monitoring.

For Nigeria, as a developing nation, the risk of a rise in cases is a lesser evil than the negative impact of keeping children out of school for much longer.

READ ALSO: 30 inmates sit for SSCE in Jos

As schools reopen, we should all focus on continuous education and awareness about COVID-19, adequate preparation by schools and caregivers, ongoing monitoring of the observance of safety protocols in schools and constant reinforcement of the basic rules of hygiene.

Parents and teachers must be aware of their obligations. While parents should educate their children at home, teachers who are expected to maintain the highest level of hygiene discipline, should carry out their duties in the school.

The bottom line is that in some way, our lives must go on as a way of ultimately defeating COVID-19