Right: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was the first Australian leader to close schools in favour of online learning.
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Arguments in favour of schools staying open
1. Children are less likely to contract the virus and suffer milder symptoms when they do
There are those who claim that there is no pressing need to close schools during the coronavirus epidemic as children do not easily contract the disease and are generally not seriously ill when they do.
Firstly, it has been noted that children seem less likely than adults to contract the virus. Chris Blyth, a paediatric infection specialist from the University of Western Australia and the Telethon Kids Institute, has stated, 'We are seeing lower numbers of children infected compared to what we'd normally see with other respiratory viruses.'
Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist at Canberra Hospital and professor of medical school at Australian National University, has similarly stated, '[COVID-19] appears to cause less infections in children than occurs with influenza. While we don't know the exact infection rates in children, symptomatic infections appear to be much lower than what would be expected to occur with influenza in children.' Additionally, it has been noted that when children do contract the virus, they generally exhibit less severe symptoms than adults. Professor Collignon stated, 'Children will undoubtedly get infected but the probability that they will come to serious grief from this seems very low.'
Dale Fisher, a professor and chair of the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network has further stated, 'A lot of the swabs that we have taken from family clusters have shown that while the parents might have had the disease and had symptoms, the children are completely well, even though they tested positive.' Some have concluded from this that the disease is less injurious to children who contract it.A number of studies have contributed to the conclusion that children contract the virus less often and that when they do become ill with COVID -19 their symptoms are usually quite mild. On February 24, 2020, JAMA Network published a report on a recent study conducted by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention presenting findings for 44,672 people with confirmed covid-19 infection. The study found that children under 10 years old made up less than 1 percent of those cases and none of the 1023 deaths.
According to a report published in The New Scientist on March 21, 2020, another recent study found children just as likely as adults to be infected with the virus but much less likely to get sick with covid-19 and die - a similar trend to that seen with SARS or MERS, two other severe diseases caused by coronaviruses. A report published in The Guardian on March 23, 2020, stated, '[In China], 2.4 percent of all identified cases were in children under 19 years old. An even smaller number within this group of children had severe symptoms, 2.5 percent, or what the World Health Organization (WHO) described as "a very small proportion".' Australian federal medical authorities have used international studies and early Australian data to support their belief that COVID - 19 does not present a major threat to most children and thus does not justify the closure of Australian schools. Australia's deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, has stressed that despite the difficulty young children may have in following contagion-prevention recommendations, they remain safe at school as the disease causes very mild symptoms among most children who contract it. Professor Kelly has stated, 'I recognise these [hygiene restrictions] are very difficult particularly in the younger years of school but reassuringly there have been very few cases of COVID-19 in children in Australia, similar to what we have seen in the rest of the world and of those cases, almost all of them have been extremely mild.'
2. Having children at home may spread the virus more widely in the community
Several overseas authorities have advised that the risk of COVID -19 may be reduced if children continue to attend school. The claim has been made that children could be more likely to spread infection within the broader community if they were not contained and supervised within schools.
The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) has advised that unsupervised children might engage in social mixing without adults monitoring whom they were meeting. The CDC has warned, 'Longer closures may result in more students congregating outside of school [e.g. other students' homes, shopping malls], which will increase risk to older adults or those with comorbidities.' The CDC cautioned that without school children would still need to be cared for and that might mean grandparents were called on for extra babysitting duties. Older carers, the Center noted, are among the most susceptible to suffering serious symptoms and are also among those most likely to die.
Robert Booy, from the Centre for Research Excellence in Population Health, has similarly stated, 'If you take kids out of school, they then mix with adults and other kids in the park and that may do as much harm as good.' Some Australian political leaders and health spokespeople appear to have taken their lead from overseas opinions in seeing school closures as potentially hazardous.
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has stated, 'As the British chief medical officer observed over the last couple of days, the issue of widescale closure of schools, it may be anti-intuitive, but the advice is this could be a very negative thing in terms of impacting on how these [disease] curves operate. (Editor's note: Britain has since closed its schools.
When you take children out of schools and put them back in the broader community, the ability for them to potentially engage with others increases the risk.' This point was elaborated upon by the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, who has stated, 'The view of the medical advice is that in many ways, schools are a safer place than mixing kids in shopping centres. As we know, some of those children who have not been in school have been mixing in shopping centres or being with grandparents.' The same point has also been made by the secretary of the New South Wales Department of Education, Mark Scott, who has stated, 'If you just shut the schools, the kids are all down at the shopping centre or at the playground or at the movies, or perhaps being minded by grandparents or others - that may not actually be helping to limit the speed of the spread of the virus in the community.' The concern that unsupervised groups of young people might spread the virus was voiced by a Queensland intensive care nurse who posted a comment on a Facebook community page warning of the danger. She stated, 'Drove past the Albany Creek skate park approx. 5pm this evening to see it full of kids riding scooters and skateboards. What do parents NOT understand about social distancing? Why are you putting my health/life and that of my colleagues at risk just so that your kids can go and blow off some steam in the skate park.'
Concern has also been expressed that if children are kept out of school, they may infect elderly members of the community who are more likely to suffer serious illness and die if they contract the virus. Allen Cheng, Professor in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at Monash University, has stated, 'If children are withdrawn from school, it is important that they should avoid contact with vulnerable older adults as adherence with personal hygiene is often more difficult in young children.'
3. Infection control provisions can be put in place in schools
Those who maintain that schools should remain open note that procedures can be put in place to reduce the risk of contagion.
Across the states and territories, school administrators have been advised to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission by implementing strategies to restrict physical contact between staff and students. All non-essential activities, including assemblies, excursions, camps, school sports and parent-teacher interviews have been cancelled. Playgrounds are to be re�arranged, and recess and lunch times to be staggered to reduce large groups congregating.
As New South Wales Teachers Federation president, Angelo Gavrielatos, has noted, 'Schools have been told to implement a range of social distancing measures, which include keeping a distance of 1.5m between persons and minimising physical contact where possible.' Prior to being superseded by the enforced hotel quarantine provisions, students or staff returning from overseas were expected to abide by the 14-day self-isolation rules. The New South Wales Department of Education secretary, Mark Scott, stated that these steps were precautionary and designed to reduce exposure via non-essential gatherings. Scott explained, 'Schools have been a focus of the community and government as the impacts of coronavirus have developed globally...I expect school assemblies and substantial gatherings to be cancelled, along with all excursions The community expects schools to be as safe as possible. We are implementing these measures to provide peace of mind for students, parents and staff.'
By way of example, in an email to parents, Freshwater's Harbor Public School listed the changes it would make to curb the virus spread. Whole school, grade or stage assemblies - including an Anzac Day assembly - have been suspended. All school excursions - including school camps - have been cancelled until further notice and will be rescheduled later in the year. All major arts and sports activities and events have been ceased temporarily until further notice. This includes whole school sporting events and inter-school events involving three or more school. Parents have been reminded once again to keep their children at home if they're sick. The email stated, 'If your children are unwell with respiratory illness, they should remain at home until symptoms resolves and, where appropriate, seek advice from a medical practitioner.
Children with chronic medical conditions or immunosuppression may be at increased risk of disease. Please consider special arrangements for these children, such as home-based study where their learning can be done uncompromised.'
On April 9, 2020, the West Australian government put out hygiene related infection control advice typical of that disseminated in other states and territories. The advice states, 'Staff and students are to take all of the necessary precautions: washing hands with soap and running water regularly, especially when hands are visibly dirty, before and after eating or prior to food preparation, after going to the toilet, when caring for the sick, and after handling animals or animal waste; avoiding using handkerchiefs; coughing and sneezing with a tissue or bent elbow, and disposing of used tissues immediately; avoiding touching eyes, mouth and nose and avoiding contact with others if unwell.
As per advice received by the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC), schools have also been advised that it is preferable that students bring their own individual water bottles that can be filled from water fountains as necessary. This will reduce the need for students to drink directly from fountains. All students should be instructed on safe usage of water fountains e.g. not putting their mouth onto equipment. The water fountains will be regularly cleaned and checked that they are working correctly with good pressure.' The WA Department of Health has provided advice to the Department of Education on cleaning protocols. This advice included a recommended increase in the frequency of cleaning high-contact areas and the types of cleaning chemicals and equipment to be used. Schools have been advised of the enhanced cleaning requirements, and these new requirements are being put in place.
4. Closing schools would seriously damage young people's academic progress and impact negatively on them socially and psychologically
Opponents of closing schools as a response to COVID-19 point to the harm that would be done students psychologically, socially and academically.
Some critics have stressed the emotional harm that could be done to children by further dislocating their lives during a period of general community disquiet. Chris Blyth, Paediatrician, Infectious Diseases Physician and Clinical Microbiologist at the University of Western Australia, has stated, 'Voluntarily pulling children out of school will pose a major disruption to their lives at a time when community anxiety continues to climb. My three children are at school today.' Natalie Jewitt,, a clinical psychologist from the Jenby's school wellbeing project, has observed, 'I am acutely aware of the importance of preparing and having time to process endings and transitions in our lives. We have to remember that many children have important and supportive relationships with teachers so this will be a huge change for them.'
Referring to the risks faced by children in under-resourced and potentially dysfunctional families, Bernadka Dubicka, chair of the child and adolescent faculty at the British Royal College of Psychiatrists, has observed, 'There are vulnerable children and young people where increased isolation in a difficult home environment could be very detrimental, therefore it is vital that essential services are protected and supported as much as possible.' Others have referred to children's need for social contact with their peers. Paul Kidson, Lecturer in Educational Leadership at the University of Wollongong, has noted, 'It will be challenging for kids socially. We naturally like being around our friends, and to limit this voluntarily is a brave call.' One student in Britain, where schools are already closed, has commented on the impact news of the shutdowns had on her and her friends. 'While I thought it would be fun at first, the idea of school shutting for the rest of the year made everyone unhappy because of how much we would miss each other.'
The educational impact of withdrawal from face-to-face instruction upon children has been a major focus of many of those opposed to school closures. Allen Cheng, Professor in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at Monash University, has noted, 'While I can't comment with authority on the psychological and educational impacts of home schooling, it should be noted that we may be in this situation for many months. From a personal perspective as a parent, I don't think I could do anywhere near as well in teaching my children as their current teachers.'
The same concern about the impact school closures would have on students' education has been expressed by Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist at Canberra Hospital, who has argued, 'There are many potential detrimental effects if we close schools now. Firstly, on the children themselves. Many will likely miss out on over six months of teaching. While online learning might be available it is unlikely to be as effective as face-to-face teaching and those with less resources will disproportionately be disadvantaged.' Looking at the educational impact from a United States' perspective, Andreas Kluth has written of the capacity for home education to exacerbate socio-economic differences between children, noting, 'In some families, mom and dad have white-collar jobs that let them work from home, keeping an eye on the kids. They probably also have good WiFi, at least one laptop or iPad per kid and shelves of books in the background. They may also have a sense of discipline and balance, setting strict timetables but making room for playtime and exercise. And they'll probably have a bowl of fruit waiting before the next lesson.
In other families, the parents - or the single mom or dad - may have none of this. If the school doesn't structure the children's learning, the parents don't know where to find teaching tools, and wouldn't be confident in this role anyway. Maybe they need to hold down a job in the gig economy and will therefore be absent much of the time. Their kids will end up spending "school hours" with junk food and Fortnite.'
Concern regarding loss of academic opportunities have been a particular focus of Australian prime minister Scott Morrison who has expressed the fear that schools could be closed for twelve months. 'I do not want to see our children lose an entire year of their education. This is very serious... we want to ensure...we can keep up to the mark with our children's education as best as we can.' Particular concern has been expressed about impacts on senior students completing their final years of education. 5. Closing schools would make it difficult for many workers to continue in their jobs
Those who argue that children should remain at school during the COVID-19 epidemic note that parents in work will not be able to remain at their jobs if they have to supervise their children at home. It is claimed this would put an intolerable financial strain on families and would dramatically reduce the community's access to essential services, especially those provided by health care workers.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has repeatedly stated that schools must stay open to allow Australian parents to remain in work, especially those supplying vital health care services. On March 16, 2020, the prime minister stated, 'The...issue is the disruption impact that [closing schools] can have and put at great risk the availability of critical workers such as nurses and doctors and others who are essential in the community because they would have to remain home and look after their children.'
On March 18, 2020, Morrison stated, 'The disruption that would occur from the closure of schools around this country, make no mistake, would be severe. What do I mean by severe? Tens of thousands of jobs could be lost, if not more. [There would be] a 30 percent impact on the availability of health workers is our advice - that will put peoples' lives at risk... There is a national public interest here in keeping schools open...'
Reinforcing the prime minister's point, the federal chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, stated, 'It will be hard for schools, but it would be much, much, much harder for society if the schools were closed.'
On March 23, 2020, the prime minister clarified those jobs beyond those in health care services that he considers 'essential' and stressed again that schools had to remain open so that parents could continue to work. Morrison stated, 'For all those workers who need to send their children to school, that's why the school needs to remain open. Now if you ask me who is an essential worker? Someone who has a job. Everyone who has a job in this economy is an essential worker. Every single job that is being done in our economy with these severe restrictions that are taking place is essential. It can be essential in a service whether it's a nurse or a doctor or a schoolteacher, or a public servant who is working tonight to ensure that we can get even greater capacity in our Centrelink offices, working until eight o'clock under the new arrangement in the call centres, these are all essential jobs. People are stacking shelves, that is essential. People earning money in their family when another member of their family may have lost their job and can no longer earn, that's an essential job. Jobs are essential. And everyone who has one needs to be able to keep doing their job and that means they will need to continue to be able to send their children to school for an education, for an education at that school.'
On April 2, 2020, in a statement primarily concerned with keeping childcare centres open, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, emphasised that parents needed to be able to work in order to support their families and they should not be forced to choose between feeding their children and supervising them through the week. Morrison stated, 'We have had great cooperation from the teachers' unions, from the schools, ensuring that no child is being turned away... we are...ensuring that... people who have those jobs won't have their livelihoods put at risk. I don't want a parent to have to choose between feeding their kids and having their kids looked after. Or having their education being provided.
This virus is going to take enough from Australians without putting Australian parents in that position of having to choose between the economic wellbeing of their family and the care and support and education of their children. I won't cop a situation where a parent is put in that place with their kids.'
The prime minister reiterated this position on April 7, 2020, stating, 'From the Commonwealth's point of view, and particularly from a national economy point of view, then we obviously want to ensure that parents who are unable to provide a proper learning environment at home that they don't have to choose between their children's education and having a job that can feed their children.'