Parents torn between risking their children’s health and their education

AMMAN — As the first day of school began on Tuesday, parents have been torn between risking their children’s health and their education, with varying opinions about the effectiveness of remote education. 

“My son has just started grade one, and I enrolled him in a private school out of fear that a public school will be too crowded, I tried to teach him about physical distancing and hygiene, but he’s a kid, he could mingle with others very easily,” Rania Alshalabi, who resides in Zarqa, told The Jordan Times on Wednesday over the phone.

“As for my daughter, she goes to a public school, and she is in the fifth grade now. If the coronavirus is here to stay, I think we cannot be afraid of it forever, so I am sending her to school as usual and hope that rules will be sufficiently enforced  to protect everyone,” she added.

“I am terrified that something will happen to my child, she has just started the second grade and the news keep me on edge, but I do not want to rob her of the experience, because last year she did not experience school life well in the first grade,” Abdullah Jamil, a parent of three children, told The Jordan Times.

“The hike in cases might make us turn to remote education again, but it was a difficult experience and not everyone has equal access to laptops and mobiles and the Internet, so maybe we should push through and just live with the reality of the situation, in spite of our fears,” Jamil added. 

On social media, people voiced their concerns on news related to schools, especially since reports of a COVID-19 positive student who led over 200 other students into quarantine spread from the very first day.

“Distance learning is not the solution, the virus is here to remain for at least a year or two probably, and the only way is to go back to classrooms,” Yousef Abul Haj commented on Facebook.

Videos and pictures circulating on the platform purportedly showed many schools were not abiding by physical distancing and wearing of masks, with students huddled next to each other in classrooms.

Hana Atiya commented: “So after people paid to private schools and purchased stationery and backpacks and uniforms, there are infections already? Will education turn online now since payments have already been made?”

The comments were divided between those who believe in herd immunity and think it is best to keep school ongoing regardless of what happens, and others who expressed fear and demanded schools be shutdown until the situation is under control.