A group of children play on the road to Ocosingo, Chiapas.Nayeli Cruz
After eight months without school and learning from home, as of January three Mexican states will be able to reopen schools and start face-to-face classes, according to a decision made public Tuesday afternoon by the authorities of the Ministry of Public Education ( SEP).
These are Chiapas, Veracruz and Campeche, which have turned green in the epidemiological traffic light designed by the health authorities.
Those instances that have changed to a yellow traffic light may also do so "voluntarily".
The challenge for the authorities is that the opening of schools does not generate an increase in the contagion of covid-19, at a time when Mexico maintains a high incidence of the disease, which has claimed the lives of more than 110,000 people and accumulates 1,193. 255 confirmed cases.
This Wednesday the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned about the increase in infections in some regions of the country.
"Mexico is experiencing a resurgence of cases in the state of Baja California, near the border with the United States," informed Carissa Etienne, director of the organization, who called for redoubling preventive measures to stop the pandemic.
Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, Secretary of Education, has reported that he has met with those in charge of the state educational systems to design the return to school plan.
He said that in the case of the States in yellow, Community Learning Centers (CAC) will be installed within the schools to give pedagogical advice to students, although he has warned that participation will be voluntary and that parents must sign a letter in the They express that under their responsibility they agree to participate in this educational modality.
States in green must follow the guidelines indicated by the Ministry of Health.
The government made the decision in August to close schools because the country did not have the conditions for students to take the course in person.
The classes were held remotely and with more than 30 million students following them on television.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed an agreement with the large private television stations in the country (Televisa, Tv Azteca, Grupo Multimedios and Grupo Imagen) to broadcast school content.
So far the educational authorities have not presented an evaluation of the results of the Learn at Home program.
“We stop in person from one day to the next.
That stopped mobility in the country, but now with an abrupt presence we are going to have problems with schools that do not have conditions, public transport saturations, children in contact with others that can cause contagion ”, explains Manuel Gil Antón, from the Study Center Sociological of the Colegio de México (Colmex).
Experts say that children spread little of the new coronavirus, but many countries in Europe and Latin America have decided to close schools due to the increase in infections.
Jorge Castañeda Sánchez, a researcher at the Immunology Laboratory of the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM), asks for caution.
“It seems to me that we are still in a very complicated situation, despite the fact that there are States that will probably soon start to be on a green light.
We understand the need to go back [to school], but we do not have to lower our guard, because children and adolescents are an interesting population in this epidemic, because although there is no high mortality at these ages, it has been shown that they can be transmitters of the disease and they can return home infected and transmit the disease to their relatives, who can be a population at risk ”, says the expert.
Castañeda Sánchez recommends to the authorities a scheduled return, with smaller class groups, because too many students cannot be concentrated in closed places.
It also remembers the importance of maintaining security controls such as measuring temperature, the mandatory use of a mask, constant hand washing and the use of antibacterial gel.
In Mexico, however, the challenge is greater, since many schools are in precarious conditions and do not have the basic infrastructure to prevent them from becoming points of infection.
A report by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval) published in 2018 shows that of the more than 226,000 public schools in the country, 2.2% have no water supply from any source (public network, wells , supply by tanker trucks) and only 53% have supply through the public network.
Furthermore, only 66.4% of the schools have sanitation services and 66.1% electricity.
“I understand that it is urgent for parents, children, even teachers to have contact, it is very important, because it greatly alleviates the circumstances of isolation, but it is not going to be that, by hurrying, there is an increase in infections.
In addition, not all schools have ventilation conditions, in cities they are cages, there is no way to keep the distance.
The SEP must start with schools that do have conditions and we are gradually gaining ground ”, recommends Gil Antón.
For the academic, in addition, in the states with a green traffic light, the demographic characteristics and local infrastructure must be analyzed, he also asks to consult with the teachers so that they are the ones who determine if there are conditions to open the schools, and that it is the Ministry of Health the one that verifies those conditions and determines if an educational center can reopen.
"I have the impression that a decision is made on a map on a desk and not on the reality of each state," he criticizes.
The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a severe blow to education in Mexico.
The SEP reported in early August that at least 2.5 million students left classrooms this year, after the school year was suspended due to the health contingency.
The closure of schools also had a negative impact: in states like Chiapas, 45% of students from the poorest municipalities have dropped out of the course because they do not have the conditions to adapt to virtual education.
In these communities, parents, many of them illiterate, decided to remove their children from the system because they could not help them with their homework.
That is why the opening of schools is important to avoid desertion and guarantee children the right to education.
But, Gil Antón points out, “face-to-face returns appropriate to the context of each region must be designed, with a lot of participation of teachers and parents, taking into account the conditions of the schools, the health of the teachers”.