BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
As most governments around the world temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ethiopia has also been compelled to close schools to reduce the transmission of the disease. As a result, around 26 million Ethiopian students were obliged to be out of school.
However, currently, the country has reopened schools after finalizing preparation the required precautions and safety measures.
Abebe Chernet, Corporate Communication Director at Addis Ababa Education Bureau, said that schools had been closed for more than nine months and children were out of the classroom. Families were also deeply concerned due to the prolonged existence of the pandemic and the unknown fate of their children. The reopening of schools could help lessen the burden of families and students.
It is remembered that the state-of-emergency imposed to halt the spread of the disease, which had been declared in April 2020, ended in early September. On September 18th, the Minister of Health advised Parliament that it was possible to reopen schools after certain conditions were met. Grades 8 and 12 are attending classroom for at least three weeks in order to sit for national exams and the reopening will gradually be extended to other grades, he added.
He further noted that, though many parents and teachers had been worrying about the risks which reopening entails, preliminary findings by the Ministry of Education showed that 90 percent of families wanted the schools to reopen but needed assurances on COVID-19 preventive measures. The Bureau acknowledges their fear and it is understandable but unjustified.
“To make sure the safety of our students and the education communities at schools, we are working to comply with the Ministry of Education protocol, one class of 25 students and one desk for one student,” he underscored.
Following the temporary; but prolonged closure of schools, students were obliged to stay at home for long. The closure unquestionably has generated undesirable consequences on children-learning loss. Children, because they stay out of school, they have lost a lot. As it is said before, online education is no substitute for face-to-face learning in brick and mortar classrooms, where this can be done safely and with the necessary social interaction.
As to him, for the reason that they stayed out of school during this period and not taught in person, they are also forgetting what they learnt. Thus, efforts are underway to catch up the lost learning speedily.
The City Administration has already announced reopening of schools, grade 5-8 students, in line with the set protocols and directives given from the Ministry of Health and Ethiopia Public Health Institute set. And the Education Bureau is also planning to open the grade levels in the coming weeks.
According to him, education is the most critical point in nation building. Thus, reopening of schools would have huge impact on country’s human development.
Oromia State Education Bureau Deputy Head, Ephrem Tessema also noted that the State had been engaged in weighing safe ways to restart schools and ways to manage COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bureau has been devising detailed plans to reopen primary schools, and other levels plus to create platforms to inform the leadership in the rank files of the communities.
“In a bid to align with the protocol, we had planned to construct 34,000 classrooms. However, with the active participation of the communities we were able to construct 34,000 classrooms that could allow us to sit one student per a table and 25 students at each class rooms. For the reason that mobilization was made, it is enabled to providing access to drinking water in many schools. The Bureau also has dispatched over 11.3 million facemasks.”
“In the same manner, we have started supplying schools with sanitation and safety materials, let them conduct an extensive communication campaign to inform parents and students about available resources and establish an emergency helpdesk to report COVID-19 incidents,” he further said.
The Bureau has been working with pertinent stakeholders and development partners in supporting the safe and effective reopening of schools. Currently, in schools located in Oromia States, 9.3 million students are attending their learning.
The Ethiopian herald December 13/2020
