Why lots of kids still aren't back in school in Guatemala
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Loading... - Martin Frank
- 20 Jul 2022
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The doors of the Hermogenes Gonzalez Mejia school in Guatemala City were propped wide open. The interior smelled of fresh paint and cleaning supplies. Inside each classroom, tiny desks were lined up with chairs neatly stacked on top. Two large basketball courts in the outdoor courtyard looked pristine.
After two years of remote learning, the time had come to get them back inside. "They need to interact with their classmates and try to find some kind of normalcy," said Oscar Fernando Lopez Polanco, director of the Mejia school, while prepping in his office for an assembly in mid-February to announce reopening plans. At the entrance, a teacher welcomed parents and their children by taking their temperature, squirting sanitizer on their hands, and spraying them from head to toe with disinfectant – a practice that has become common in Guatemala as part of the efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus , despite having no proven benefits.
It's a moment many parents and children across Guatemala are still waiting for. Due to the pandemic, millions of students in the country have been stuck in remote learning since March 2020. The generally run-down conditions in many school buildings, which had been badly in need of repair long before the arrival of COVID-19, have government officials wary about the safety of returning to in-person learning.
Why it's been hard to reopen schools
Internationally, there's been a significant push to return students to classrooms. In a 2021 report, the U.N. said schools are not associated with increased COVID-19 transmission but rather reflect the level of community transmission. The World Health Organization has urged governments to consider closing schools only when there are no other alternatives.
But in Guatemala, the government has stalled plans for reopening. During 2021, the government paid to renovate 554 public schools that required general repairs even before the pandemic.
However, there are close to 9,000 that lack safe water, electricity or other necessities. Veronica Spross, executive director at Entrepreneurs for Education, a Guatemala-based organization that promotes long-term solutions for the country's education system, says that's no excuse for delaying the reopening any longer. "There's different institutions like churches, private businesses, small shops, among others, that can help schools get ready," she says. Donations from the community could get necessary resources in place faster.
Red light, yellow light ...
Education advocates are also imploring the government to rethink the traffic light system that is used to manage the pandemic. Each municipality is assigned a color that determines its restrictions and permissions. There are currently 138 municipalities in the red zone, which are not allowed to hold in-person classes in public schools. But private schools, which tend to have more resources, have been allowed to bring students back as long as they meet the health guidelines.
Lopez Polanco's municipality recently shifted from red to orange thanks to an adjustment made in mid-February that takes into account vaccination rates in determining each area's color. Because more than 80% of his municipality has at least one dose of the vaccine, he's now allowed to reopen his school at a limited capacity, if parents consent and the school can meet the government's health guidelines.
But that's no easy feat. Guidelines include masks, face shields for staff, open windows for natural ventilation in classrooms, strict physical distancing, and stations with soap and water or hand sanitizer in every classroom. Staff are required to clean each room after each class, and the number of children allowed inside at the same time is limited. Read More...
