KARACHI: Despite an alarming surge in Covid-19 cases in the current second wave, the government is still mulling over whether to close educational institutions or not. It seems that it trusts schools and colleges to follow the required standard operating procedures (SOPs) to protect the staff and students from coronavirus, but students and faculty on ground have horror stories to tell.

There are a few parents as well who trust the institutions to follow the SOPs and want them to remain open.

“I caught Covid-19 and have infected my whole family,” said ZS, a female student of a prestigious institution in Karachi. “Despite my protests, I was forced to attend a school event in October. SOPs were not followed.”

ZS said when she complained to the teachers they were either helpless or thought she was being paranoid.

“I am so stressed out because of this. Before being infected I was going just for the attendance but now I think I was stupid for doing this. It wasn’t worth it.”

There are many students like ZS, who returned to school when they opened in mid-September after six months despite the government’s assurance that SOPs will be followed.

But as expected many ignored these rules or enforced them very casually.

Government teams sealed some institutions while some others managed to satisfy them.

But Tanveer, an intermediate student at a college in Karachi, claimed no one in her college was following the SOPs.

She said a team of officials came shortly after her college opened and were shown only that was needed to satisfy them but in reality no one was following any SOPs.

Tanveer has stopped going to the college as her parents fear she will get infected. Her mother refuses to send her, despite assurances. “I can’t trust the college to protect my daughter from the virus. There are too many students and no one is following SOPs; there is so much a few can do when the majority is not taking the virus seriously.”

Things are not better at one state-run institution.

“You know what government schools are like,” said SH, a teacher at a government school. “Do you think our students and staff will have any basic facilities like masks or sanitizers? Many of us are scared to go ... I have been taking days off recently. I have parents at home, who are vulnerable. I can’t risk it.”

Businessman Asim has three children, two are school-going and one is in college. He is quite worried about his children’s health. “SOPs are blatantly ignored; the number of students and staff infected are concealed to avoid being sealed; students are threatened with consequences like withholding of results and other documents, while faculty and staff are threatened with termination from service.”

He said he would rather keep his children home and ‘miss out’ than get infected. He said he can’t risk the lives of his children.

Rahim’s sons are in college, and he says he does not expect them to follow SOPs. “Boys are adventure-loving and my sons follow SOPs generally but when they are with friends, it is difficult for them to do so.”

He said there was so much a parent can do for elder children. “I have told my sons to be careful but you are not always with your children to ensure they follow the rules all the time. That worries me.”

When her college opened in September, Shazia said students were told that inspection teams were going to pay a visit and “we were told to tell them that we were following SOPs carefully. “This was not true — most of the students were not wearing masks and the classes were full.”

She says the college also organised “two events, one for Independence Day and another for 12 Rabiul Awwal, and it was mandatory for all students to attend”.

Students and staff have been infected at some institutions.

Adeel, a shopkeeper by profession, said he was not sending his children to school. He said that it was not like his children were learning something great at school; he refused to put their lives at risk.

“Missing a year won’t be as harmful as an infection will be. I don’t want that. I love my children and family and I can’t send them to school so they bring back the virus and put everyone in danger.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Rana, who works as a domestic help, said she could not afford treatment of her children if they get infected, not that she believed they will. “I am already swamped with expenditures, and I can’t bear more expenses if my children fall ill. And anyway my children are learning better skills working than going to school.”

But not everyone is lucky enough to escape the virus. Who will be responsible for those who get infected?

There is a misconception that the young, especially children, cannot get infected by coronavirus. But they are vulnerable as the virus can not only infect them but they can carry the virus back to their families and endanger the vulnerable. However, children have also been infected in developed countries like the US and UK.

It is time that real steps were made to work according to the new normal. If the authorities want to keep the process of education running smoothly for all students, from all backgrounds, it is time to put some plans in place.

However, we are still seeing a lot of issues in providing online classes and the government insisting on opening the intuitions.

The government had ample time to come up with a strategy to cover the gaps in education to more students. However, the work is still in progress.

Providing some classes to keep students engaged in the process of education can be achieved if plans using the basic ideas are used. Since the mid-80s or so, some classes are being conducted over TV by the Allama Iqbal Open University. Apart from this, Islamic teachings including Quran classes have been conducted through this medium.

Now with the internet, these classes can be provided online. The government can use the existing telecom network to reach students outside the urban and semi-urban areas.

This can be done at lower cost and cater to a large audience.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2020