Susel Muñoz wants her children to go back to school in Ontario next week, but only if it is safe enough.
On January 17, Ontario is scheduled for students to return to in-person learning, joining British Columbia and Alberta, which sent students back to classrooms on Monday.
But with the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in Canada, Muñoz fears for the health of her four children, all with autism, should they return to school.
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First, you want to make sure there are enough staff to care for your children, as they need additional support.
“If we don’t have them, then it is impossible for children to go to school because one teacher cannot do all the work,” he said.
Muñoz, who lives in Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighborhood, added that being a low-income family also puts them in a tough spot.
“We depend on the schools to support our children because we have to work to make ends meet in order to support our families,” he said.
“But without childcare, without open schools, it’s really challenging to do that, but at the same time, we’re in the middle because if it’s not safe, then there’s not much you can do. You prefer to choose security over anything else. “
Susel Muñoz (center) is seen with her four children in this file photo. Muñoz wants his children to return to school on January 17, but only if he feels it is safe enough for them.
Anarxis Table Designs photo
On January 3, the Ontario government announced that it would delay returning to in-person learning until at least January 17 to limit the impact of Omicron.
Meanwhile, students are learning virtually as they watch their peers in other parts of the country return to school.
In British Columbia and Alberta, students returned to classrooms on Monday after the break with new restrictions in place.
As part of the plan in BC, students will have staggered start and rest times to reduce crowding in common areas, and three-layer masks must be worn in interior areas at all times. BC warned that there may be functional school closings due to staff illnesses, but that officials will no longer send out COVID-19 exposure notices unless there are significant drops in attendance.
In Alberta, the government is providing school divisions with shipments of rapid test kits and medical grade masks in addition to the above measures, which include requirements for mask use, physical distancing, cohorts, and enhanced disinfection. The government will also continue to work with school districts on changes to learning at home when needed.
Read more:
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Like Muñoz, Nigil Haroon also wants his 10-year-old son to return to his fifth grade classroom in Toronto next Monday.
Haroon told Global News that he hopes that in-person learning will not be put off again as full-time virtual learning is not enough for his son.
“They need to develop, they need that interaction with the teacher, they need that interaction with their peers to really get the full educational experience,” he said.
“The children have quite missed that learning in person. It has affected their development, (and) it has also affected their quality of education ”.
Since the announcement, Ontario has introduced several measures to improve school safety.
On saturday the government announced that it has added additional vaccination clinics in the greater Toronto and Hamilton area to provide expedited access to COVID-19 booster shots for early care and education staff. The measure came later Ontario prioritized them for booster shots two days before.
In addition, Ontario is providing optional non-fit-tested N95 masks to all child care and education personnel, plus high-quality “three-layer” fabric masks for students and children, 3,000 more HEPA filters in addition to the more than 70,000 already in schools, new screening requirements, new time-limited cohort protocols, and $ 1.6 billion in resources for school boards to protect against COVID-19.
“Our priority is getting students back to school, which is why our government continually invests in safer schools through improved ventilation, quality PPE (personal protective equipment), and additional vaccine clinics that offer specific appointments for staff. educational, ”said Education Minister Stephen Lecce. in a statement to Global News.
“We will continue to take steps to keep students and staff as safe as possible, with a focus on getting students back to class.”
As the scheduled return to school approaches, one figure that worries Dr. Anna Banerji is the vaccination rate among children ages five to 11.
In Ontario, that number is in 47 percent partially vaccinated and 3.5 percent fully inoculated. Among that age group at the national level, 45 percent are partially vaccinated and two percent are fully vaccinated..
Banerji calls on parents with children eligible for vaccination to receive the vaccine for added protection at school.
“Children and most Canadians living in cities will be exposed (to COVID-19) in the near future,” said Banerji, a pediatric disease specialist at the University of Toronto.
“The big risk is really sending an unvaccinated child to school. If parents want to do something proactive, they should go vaccinate their children. “
Muñoz has followed Banerji’s advice and is vaccinating his children against COVID-19.
However, you would like to see that all educational personnel are required to be vaccinated so that schools are as safe as possible at this time.
“We need vaccinations to be mandatory for school staff, teachers, and support staff first and foremost,” he said.
“Our children are getting vaccinated, but even so, if the people around them and support them in schools are not vaccinated, it is definitely a problem for our children in particular because they are the most vulnerable groups.”
– with files from Simon Little and The Canadian Press
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