Every day at school a good day

The situation may change any day. As of Thursday, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy and health officials advising governments believe that keeping schools open is the best option to protect the community amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The situation is being monitored day by day. Reports of coronavirus transmission in schools remain low, but the concerns of parents, teachers and principals about the risk of infection are understandable. At this stage, as Scott Morrison warned on Wednesday, the consequences of closing schools would be severe. Forcing parents to stay home with younger children would deplete the medical workforce. Closures would exacerbate unemployment among school support staff. There is also the issue of youngsters visiting and being cared for by grandparents, potentially infecting them. Families can only make up their own minds, with many older Australians preferring to face the risks, albeit with hygiene precautions, than pine in loneliness, which also undermines immune systems. The Easter school holidays, starting on March 28 in Victoria and a week or two later in other states, will be a dry run for what to expect in the event of longer-term closures. Like the Prime Minister, who says children should only be away from school if they are unwell, many Australians are keeping a sensible perspective. Of respondents to a poll on The Australian’s Facebook page, 55 per cent supported schools remaining open.

At school, life has changed. Large assemblies and excursions are out, lunch breaks have been staggered and there is a strong emphasis on hygiene. For as long as medical experts judge it prudent, every day that schools remain open is a good day. That is especially the case for disadvantaged children and those whose home lives are not conducive to learning away from classrooms and the support of teachers and school resources, especially books. School closures, if they eventuate, will be an enormous wrench for many students, especially when activities, such as movie-going, sport and teenagers’ part-time jobs will be limited. For students with problematic, even abusive, family backgrounds, prolonged school closures would be traumatic. Senior staff and officials in state education departments and the Catholic and independent sector should be laying the groundwork for supporting the most vulnerable students. In Britain, where schools close on Friday, provision is being made for the children of key workers and vulnerable children to be minded at school. That option is worth exploring. Schools must also pave the way, of course, for students to learn as much as possible independently, through school intranets, online interaction, reading lists and text books. Many of the expensive independent schools that have already closed, contrary to government and public health advice, are well equipped for online learning. It is especially important that state education authorities are proactive to ensure students from disadvantaged schools are not left to waste large chunks of lengthy downtime on computer games. As always, parental responsibility will be paramount.

It is reasonable to suspect that 2020 could be a write-off in terms of major exams and university entrance. Much would depend on how long school closures would be deemed necessary. Mr Morrison took Australians into his confidence, noting that any measures put in place could remain for six months or longer. In announcing its school closures, Britain scrapped this year’s major public exams, which are held mid-year, before the northern hemisphere summer. Australia can only judge on local circumstances. This year’s transition to a new system of Year 12 assessment and university entrance in Queensland, for example, will be a consideration.

Teachers, unions and some principals are outspoken about what they see as the health risks of leaving schools open, as Rebecca Urban wrote on Thursday. They are entitled to speak up. The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, which ­includes chief health officers from the states and territories, however, is best placed to judge. Its current advice, that schools stay open, today, is worth following.