For the sake of the ‘forgotten voices’ of the pandemic, reopen Australia’s schools

Thirty-five of Australia’s top academics, doctors and community leaders and have written the following an open letter to Australian governments.

The Hon. Scott Morrison MP, Prime Minister of Australia
The Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, Premier of Victoria
The Hon. Dominic Perrotet MP, Premier of New South Wales
The Hon. Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, Premier of Queensland
The Hon. Steven Marshall MP, Premier of South Australia
The Hon. Peter Gutwein, Premier of Tasmania
The Hon. Andrew Barr MLA, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
The Hon. Michael Gunner, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
The Hon. Mark McGowan MLA, Premier of Western Australia

Dear leaders of Australian governments,

In the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic we now have evidence that it is safe to allow schools to be open for face-to-face learning. The national cabinet commitment to re-open schools is at risk, however, and needs to be reaffirmed by every jurisdiction, with measures taken to reassure Australian families that schools are safe to return. As such, we call upon all federal, state and territory governments to recommit to the return to in person schooling without delay for term 1 2022. We believe this to be critical for the following reasons:

Children are at low risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID.Credit: Shutterstock

A delay to return to in-person learning is not a proportionate response, notwithstanding the Omicron outbreak. Our Australian data confirms COVID-19 is a mild disease in children, that the few hospitalisations are short-lived, and that the overwhelming majority of children recover from this virus without adverse effect. There is no medical case for face-to-face learning to be suspended awaiting the vaccination of 5 to 11-year-old children, although all children should be offered access as soon as practical.

A delay to returning to in-person learning ignores the obligation to deliver the best education possible to children, greatly disadvantages the least privileged and causes unnecessary anxiety and harm. For some children, schools are the safest place to be, essential for socialisation and vital to their learning. Children are the “lost voices” of this pandemic. The right of children to an education based on in-person learning and healthy social interaction with peers is now one of the highest policy priorities for Australian governments to limit the long-term adverse impact of this pandemic.

A delay in returning to in-person learning puts children’s mental health at risk, with additional increases in the risk of child abuse, obesity, and delayed social and emotional development. The lifelong impact of this is not known. These issues are more difficult to quantify than COVID-19 case numbers, but they are just as real and demand to be assigned a higher priority given their importance to secure a healthy and prosperous future for communities.

Children’s mental health will be better served by being at school.Credit: iStock

Children and especially adolescents have borne the major mental health burden of the pandemic with a worldwide surge in cases of mental ill health and of life-threatening presentations to emergency departments for suicidal risk and emerging mental illness. The major health impact of COVID-19 for children and young people has been on their mental health. Their educational scaffolding is a key protective factor for their mental health and their future.

At this stage of the pandemic we must acknowledge and follow the principle set by both the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund, that in a pandemic “schools must be the last to close and the first to open”.

All teachers should have had an opportunity to be vaccinated against this virus, providing them with very high protection. Teachers are at no higher risk than the general adult population, and it is likely that schools pose no increased risk of transmission compared with the general community even when the virus is circulating at high levels. Opening schools will not materially add to the burden on the health system.

We know that most infections occur within households, and that schools in general reflect community transmission rather than being a key transmission driver. With wide community circulation and all parents, grandparents and high-risk community members having had an opportunity to get vaccinated, the general population will not be at higher risk of severe disease with schools re-opening.

It is sensible to use mitigation measures during this acute phase of the outbreak. Test-to-stay strategies need to be resourced: free rapid antigen testing following documented school exposure should be made available. Workforce planning is critical. We recognise that mitigation measures such as improved ventilation and/or masks may help parents and teachers feel more comfortable with the return to school and that this is an important consideration. However, given the relatively low risk posed by schools and in the absence of evidence that these measures will have a substantial effect on transmission, a delayed roll-out of these measures should not delay in-person learning.

We believe all children in this country have a fundamental right to high-quality education and urge all elected representatives in Australia to join us in reassuring Australia’s parents, teachers and children that it is in everyone’s best interest to restart in-person learning as soon as possible.

David Isaacs, Professor of Child health,

Catherine Bennett, Professor of Epidemiology

Fiona Russell, Professor of Paediatrics and Epidemiology

Patrick McGorry, Professor of Psychiatry

On behalf of the following practitioners, academics and prominent Australians who are signatories to this letter:

Christopher Blyth, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Disease

Robert Booy, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Disease

Asha Bowen, Associate Professor of Paediatric Infectious Disease

Philip Britton, Associate Professor of Paediatric and Child Health

Nicholas Coatsworth, Infectious Disease and Respiratory Physician

David Coghill, Professor of Child Psychiatry

Peter Collignon, Professor of Infectious Disease and Microbiology

Nigel Curtis, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Disease

Margie Danchin, Associate Professor of Paediatrics

Paul Denborough, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

Greg Dore, Infectious Disease Physician

Luara Ferracioli, Senior Lecturer, Politics and Philosophy

Sharon Goldfeld, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health

Vinay Lakra, Associate Professor, Psychiatrist

Frances Kay Lambkin, Professor of Psychology

Tony LaMontagne, Professor of Work, Health and Wellbeing

Ben Marais, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Disease

Iain Martin, Professor of Surgery

Gabriel Metcalf, Chief Executive Officer, Committee for Sydney

Christel Middledorp, Professor of Child and Youth Psychiatry

Peter McIntyre, Professor of Child and Adolescent Health

Megan Mitchell, Former Australian National Children’s Commissioner 2013 – 2020

Elizabeth Pellicano, Professor of Education

Sarath Ragananthan, Professor of Paediatrics

Bruce Robinson, Professor of Medicine

Edward Santow, Professor of Industry, Former Australian Human Rights Commissioner 2016 – 2021

Marc Stears, Professor of Politics

Tim Soutphommasane, Professor of Practice (Sociology and Political Theory), Former Race Discrimination Commissioner 20130-2018

Maree Teesson, Professor of Mental Health

Phoebe Williams, Paediatric Infectious Disease Physician

Ehssan Veiszadeh, deputy CEO, Committee for Sydney

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