Opening schools during Covid ....

Our British government, who has mis-handled the pandemic from day one, is now saying all schools must re-open in September, and that it will be safe for pupils and staff. How can it be, with the much vaunted 'track and trace' system a non-starter, and testing not being done .... and thousands of teens to thirty year olds .... and even families with young children ... ignoring advice and flocking in non-isolated groups to the beaches and parties ?

NAIROBI, Kenya — For Esther Adhiambo, this year was supposed to be a year of endings and new beginnings. She was expecting to complete high school, enroll in a university and get a job to help her single mother, who runs a small tailoring business in Nairobi’s Mathare slum.

Instead, for Esther and other Kenyan students, 2020 is turning out to be the year that disappeared. Education officials announced in July that they were canceling the academic year and making students repeat it. They are not expected to begin classes again until January, the usual start of Kenya’s school year.

Education experts believe Kenya is the only nation to have gone so far as to declare the entire school year a total washout, and order students to start over.

When the government shut down schools in March, it introduced remote lessons streamed over radio, television and videos posted on YouTube. However, for the vast majority of students, many in poor and rural households, remote learning was not an option. They didn’t have access to television, laptops, or the internet, or even the electricity to power these gadgets.

(From the New York Times)