Smart Learning Institute

Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, Spanish students have started to suspend classes last month, and September will be the day they are expected to re-start classes, which is also the date the expert team formed by the Spanish Pediatric Association suggested to the government. But at the same time, starting school in September also means that 8.2 million students will need to stay at home for a full five months.

The committee was established after the Ministry of Health commissioned the association to write a report on the measures taken by the association against school-age children. The opinion of the eight experts who formed this group is that the school may not be able to take the necessary precautions for reopening classes until the summer.

Experts who provide advice to the government include children's psychiatrists, infectious disease experts, pediatric ethics experts, and experts in primary health care. They said that “it is unwise to start school in the current situation, and the school should not be opened for the rest of the semester.” The organization ’s epidemiologist Quique Bassat explained that returning to the classroom is not a priority. "The end of the restrictive measures will not begin until May. In view of this approaching the end of the school year, everyone agrees that it is not worth the risk and it is best to postpone it until September. The exact start date will depend on the Spanish epidemic situation, and will ultimately be decided by the Spanish government. In addition, the Chinese experience is also worth learning. Chinese students only returned to campus after four months of isolation.

(Excerpt from ELPAIS, https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-04-17/government-advisors-support-reopening-spanish-schools-in-september.html, April 17, 2020)