Concerns about reopening schools are outweighed by the need for children to return to classes because they have suffered “significant harm” from online learning, says Toronto’s medical officer of health.
“This comes down to the criticality or essentiality of in-person learning for children,” Dr. Eileen de Villa said in an interview with the Star on Thursday, just days before schools reopen for students across the nation. Province.
“The evidence shows that school closures and shifts to online learning are associated with quite significant harm, particularly from an educational perspective, but also from a mental health and developmental perspective,” he said.
“This was a huge driving force behind it.”
He said that while “COVID-19 is a key risk right now … we’re also looking at all other aspects of health, looking to optimize the in-person learning environment, recognizing that we’re looking at the whole child’s health: physical development , mental, social… We have to look at all aspects of health”.
A new report from the province’s COVID-19 scientific table found that “school closures are associated with substantial harm to mental health and educational performance” and that “these risks are cumulative and are disproportionately experienced among families from marginalized groups.
The scientific table report comes as pediatric experts from Ottawa’s Sick Kids and CHEO, among other experts, expressed support for sending children back to school on January 17.
Critics and parents have raised a number of concerns, notably that COVID cases in schools will not be tracked due to limited laboratory testing in the province. However, the province says daily absences will be posted online. And de Villa said public health is working with both the Toronto public and Catholic boards to see if COVID cases can somehow be reported to families who say they need that information to know if schools are safe.
In an email to parents Thursday night, the TDSB said that when it learns of a confirmed case of COVID in a classroom, parents will be notified.
In Ontario, where, now at 27 weeks, students have been learning online longer than others in North America and many European countries, the science board said there is now provincial evidence that children ages five to 19 have a low risk of hospitalization or serious health problems from Omicron.
“Existing evidence suggests that in-person learning closures have a smaller effect on community spread of SARS-CoV-2 compared to many other public health measures,” the scientific table said in its report that strongly supports a return to the school with things like masking, improved ventilation, and a focus on vaccinating staff and children.
“School closures are associated with educational and social challenges for children and families,” the report says, noting a “six-fold increase in extreme student absenteeism (not being present for more than 50 percent of classes) during the pandemic.”
De Villa said that “the importance of in-person learning: cannot be overstated, and the science backs it up.”
School closures “increase social isolation, a major contributor to the worsening mental health of children in Ontario,” including nearly tripling depression and anxiety among children without prior problems, the scientific table reported.
“Evidence from Ontario shows a substantial and sustained deterioration in children’s mental health,” the report also says.
Students were due to return to in-person learning on January 3, which was initially pushed back two days to give the government time to start shipping extra masks and HEPA air filters to schools. Prime Minister Doug Ford then said that due to a spike in Omicron COVID-19 cases, children would have to learn remotely until January 17.
On Wednesday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Medical Director of Health Dr Kieran Moore announced that all staff and students will initially receive two rapid tests and that millions of N95 masks have been distributed to teachers, along with a focus on vaccination. clinics in schools before, during and after school for families.
Since last November, Toronto has held more than 250 vaccination clinics for school staff and families, with more to come in the coming weeks.
Given the limits for provincial PCR lab tests, schools will no longer report daily COVID cases, but rather school absences, a category that encompasses all reasons children are not in school, not just COVID. When a school reaches 30 percent, families will be notified.
De Villa also said that stricter COVID protocols may be put in place at some schools, “on a case-by-case basis,” depending on what is happening in the immediate community.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure schools are as safe as possible,” he said. “I know there are a variety of feelings and opinions about in-person learning right now, in the midst of a pandemic, but regardless of whether you’re worried or ready for your kids to come back, I think it’s really important that parents, students and education workers appreciate and know and feel confident” that families and school staff “will get the information and updates they need.”
Reference-www.thestar.com