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The lack of infrastructure and the advance of the pandemic in Mexico prevent guaranteeing a safe return to the classroom

2021-02-01T02:28:56.899Z


81% of the properties are located in buildings with minimal sanitary conditions, while experts propose improvements in schools and fewer students in each classroom


A student takes online classes in Mexico City.Nayeli Cruz / El Pa's

Mexico's education authorities face a gigantic challenge: ensuring that millions of students return to schools safely, amid the second wave of the covid-19 pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 150,000 Mexicans.

The plans of the Ministry of Education are that the return to the classroom begins in the States that have turned green within the epidemiological traffic light created by the health authorities, but parents and teachers doubt that the schools have basic conditions.

A study published in 2019 by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval) shows that 81% of the properties are located in buildings with minimal sanitary conditions and the enrollment of 25 students per teacher exceeds the number of students recommended by the OECD.

"A safe and prudent return to the classroom is being prepared, without hesitation or risk, which provides certainty instead of uncertainty and instability, as has happened in other countries, in the face of an unpredictable virus," said the former SEP head in early January. , Esteban Moctezuma.

Under what conditions should this reopening occur?

How should it be done?

The eyes of Mexicans are these days on the State of Campeche, located in the southeast of the country and which until a few days ago was on a green traffic light.

There, the authorities have begun a controversial vaccination program for teachers as an urgent measure to be able to return to the classroom, which has been one of the suggestions made by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who announced on the weekend that he has tested positive to covid.

Ricardo Koh Cambranis, Secretary of Education of Campeche, has told EL PAÍS that they make an analysis of the conditions of the schools, the health of the teachers and the situation of the pandemic in the State to decide whether to open schools, a decision that must take on February 7.

The preliminary plan is that groups of students are formed according to the registration number, so that not all attend the same day.

The official recognizes, however, that there are fears of parents and teachers, who refuse to reopen.

In his State, 40% of teachers suffer from diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and others that make them a population at risk.

"That is an important factor to consider going back to face-to-face classes," says Koh Cambranis.

"Many families do not want the return, because they feel that it is a risk for their children, for themselves," he adds.

In Campeche, he says, his portfolio and other state institutions have evaluated the infrastructure of the schools and affirms that 85% of the 1,896 basic education schools have rehabilitated infrastructure.

"We have toured most of the municipalities and where there were drinking water problems we have installed storage tanks," he explains.

While basic services such as clean water and toilets are important, health experts warn that other types of conditions must be guaranteed in schools.

In a virtual seminar on the challenges Mexico faces in the face of the pandemic, organized at the end of November by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), the director of that institution, Eduardo Lazcano Ponce, recommended that an evaluation of the infrastructure be carried out. of each school, taking into account the specific characteristics of ventilation in the classrooms to guarantee good air quality and thus minimize exposure and contagion to covid-19.

"The classrooms that can be used must provide good ventilation, with the certainty of circulation and renewal of air," he explains.

In the case of schools that do not have classrooms with sufficient ventilation, Lazcano Ponce recommends that "tents or alternative spaces in open environments" be set up, where students can learn as long as the distance of 1.5 meters between each is maintained. student.

Another major challenge is reducing the number of students per classroom.

The Coneval report shows that in Mexico a teacher attends 25 students, a figure higher than that recommended by the OECD, for which Lazcano Ponce affirms that the number of students per classroom should not exceed 10 students.

In addition, the mandatory use of face masks must be guaranteed during all the time that teachers and students are in schools.

"It should be considered that teachers over 60 years of age and those who have comorbidity [overweight and chronic diseases, among others], will not be able to return to face-to-face classes in the following school year," the expert warns.

It also recommends that teaching activities be developed that mix face-to-face with distance education, to avoid crowds in study centers.

These recommendations are included in the extensive report that these experts have prepared, with government sponsorship, to face the challenges that the pandemic continues to pose in all areas.

Diana Carpio Ríos, Secretary of Health of Michoacán, has said that in that western state of the country they have begun an analysis of the health conditions of workers in the education sector.

The State has 80,000 workers in this portfolio, of which 6% are over 60 years old.

“We will start with a tool to determine the risk factor of each worker, analyzing their health status, mainly comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

Another element to consider at the time of the reopening in the educational sector will be how many minors are cared for by their grandparents due to the employment situation of their parents and how many live in family nuclei with people at risk ”, he explained.

Carpio Ríos affirms that they are also working on a strategy to deal with outbreaks within educational centers.

"It should not be an alternative to close the school," he has settled, so he proposes to create an epidemiological surveillance plan to contact people who were exposed to the disease and isolate them "immediately or channel their attention early."

The official, however, knows that what they are dealing with is a sensitive issue.

Schools in the State, at an orange traffic light, will remain closed for the moment, but Carpio Ríos sums up the task ahead: “It will be an important challenge to face, not only because of the necessary control in educational facilities, but also because of the mobility that the opening of classrooms will generate ”.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-02-01

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