- One of the biggest challenges of humankind is decision making. Often, most of us have opinions but never a firm view of what action to take. Incidentally, it is common for us to want to hoist these opinions on others as though they were grounded in fact, backed by evidence and a conclusion we have come to.
“It felt like waiting for something to happen. Which has to be the worth part of being young. So many of your decisions aren’t yours; they’re made by other people. Sometimes they’re made badly by other people. Sometimes they’re made by other people who have no idea what the consequences of those decisions might be.”
One of the biggest challenges of humankind is decision making. Often, most of us have opinions but never a firm view of what action to take. Incidentally, it is common for us to want to hoist these opinions on others as though they were grounded in fact, backed by evidence and a conclusion we have come to. However, with real introspection, it is easy if we are honest with ourselves, to conclude that many of such opinions were not well thought through.
As we write, some students in Ghana are back in school with the intent of completing their final year so the natural educational progression can continue. Unfortunately, we are in an era where the phrase “we are not in normal times” has almost become a cliché. To start with, the current atmosphere is even not conducive for most of these students to have the proper mental framework that enables them to prepare adequately for these examinations. For some, there will be significant anxiety. For others who are social animals, the school reopening may be a relief as the opportunity to hang out with their friends is an attraction they cannot ignore.
Then there is the pressure and uncertainty under which their teachers have to operate; knowing that in the era of this pandemic, the normal communal way of teaching may put them in harm’s way. All aspects of knowledge transfer and revision will have to happen under a cloud of suspicion where each individual has to treat the other as though they were contagious. For those in boarding houses, the normal comradery that came with life in the dormitory will have to be shelved and so will the dining hall meal experience.
With all this in mind, many have questioned the rationale for reopening these schools in the first place. The proponents of restarting the school term have argued that with no end in sight, keeping these students away from school indefinitely was counterproductive. Others, the Minister of Education included, have questioned how some could expect teachers to be paid for no work done until the pandemic cloud passes.
To opponents of the school reopening, their main view has been that this move was going to put the students in harm’s way leading to the potential of some educational institutions becoming COVID-19 hotspots. They also point to the potential for significant morbidity and even mortality. Then there is the anxiety of parents, especially when they are barred from visiting their wards whilst school is in session. Readers will know that the best way to cause further community spread is for there to be a mass gathering of people in close proximity. As it is said, “when humans move, the virus moves.”
It was on this basis that we argued that reopening the schools at the time it happened was a high stakes gamble. We held this view because, with the exponential spread of SAR-CoV-2 at that time, there was the likelihood that some students were going to travel from their homes with the infection whilst others could get infected on their travels especially if they used public transport. Hence, the third set of unexposed students could have become infected by the first two cohorts upon arrival or within the first few days of the recommencement of their education.
With the effective reproductive number for SARS-CoV-2 in the middle of June being approximately 1.5, it was only a matter of time for this mix to result in students becoming unwell and confirmatory positive cases recorded. We were therefore not surprised when some Senior High Schools were said to have recorded positive cases. Likewise, the reaction of parents and guardians to these reports was to be expected. We expect that in the coming weeks, more educational institutions will report new cases of COVID-19.
We come to this conclusion because the prevalence of cases amongst the population has been appreciating significantly. As of the 13th of June, the average number of cases per 100,000 Ghanaians was 38.6; with only Greater Accra (141.2/100,00) and Ashanti Regions (44.1/100,00) having a higher prevalence than the national average. A week later the national prevalence rate had increased to 45.2 per 100,000 with Western becoming the third region with prevalence rates above the national average. As at this weekend, the national prevalence rate was 76.4 per 100,000. This is a clear indication that the pandemic has picked up the pace.
It is important therefore that we have an honest conversation about how the educational process is managed moving forward. This conversation should be backed by data where thresholds are set for permissible infections rates within schools beyond which specific institutions will have no choice but to close down. In doing so, there must be transparency around these thresholds and lines of communication between educational institutions and parents. This is to prevent the recurrence of the scenes that we all saw around Accra Girls School.
It may be an idea also to start thinking around the next steps to be taken should a school be asked to close down. Should the students who may have been exposed be allowed to travel back home or do they remain on campus under quarantine? This is important because as it stands, those who opposed the school reopening due to the mass movement of people and its interplay with increased contagion may in turn be proponents of the policy to have students return home.
If it was wrong for the students to move then, it cannot be right now.
As we see it, the choices confronting the nation now are not easy. Even if the government were to decide to go down the route of Nigeria and Kenya and abandon entirely the impending Senior High School examinations and close down all schools, the challenge of mass movement will have to be dealt with. The simple truth is when the students eventually travel back, unless they are quarantined till there is clear evidence of no infection in every school, we will offer the virus more opportunity to infect and our case count will spike.
We will conclude by stating that we have lots of sympathy for the students as they are helpless cogs in this uncertainty. Though they may have an opinion, it will matter little in the decision-making process. With this in mind, we will crave the indulgence of all, that emotions are taken out of the decision-making process as we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.