Schools reopen with mixed success to COVID-19 learning environment

AMMAN — As schools reopened for the first time since their abrupt closure in March due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, students, parents and teachers are preparing for a COVID-19 learning environment.

After weeks of speculation over an online or in-class learning system, public and private schools were ultimately given the green light to open for the first semester of the 2020/2021 academic year.

Some schools in Marka and Ashrafieh, two areas in Amman with dozens of confirmed coronavirus cases and isolated buildings, were not allowed to open, however. Schools in other hotspots such as certain neighbourhoods in Madaba and Ramtha also did not open.

According to a Prime Ministry statement made available to The Jordan Times, the reason behind the delayed opening for these schools was to “intensify testing efforts to identify more infections in light of the current epidemiological situation in these areas”.

Students were advised to follow up on their education remotely through online platforms and TV channels, with the Ministry of Education cooperating with the Ministry of Interior to provide students in isolated buildings and areas with the needed textbooks.

Schools, which were allowed to open, were instructed to follow a set of strict measures mandated by the ministry in regards to masks, physical distancing and the use of disinfectants. Children under the age of five are not required to wear masks but other age groups are required to abide by the measures that adult citizens are subjected to.

Instructions for classrooms, buses and other areas of the school where gatherings happen were issued a few days ago. The ministry also addressed students and teachers who suffer from chronic diseases that lead to immune deficiency, such as chronic lung diseases, obesity, diabetes and cancer to stay home or be extra careful if they decide to attend school.

Vice Principal of a public school Sanaa Zu’bi told The Jordan Times in a phone interview that the first school day was “all about adjusting to a COVID-19 world. It was unusual for friends not to hug or kiss when they first saw each other, and the dynamics of the classrooms has been altered.”

Zu’bi added: “The first day showed a high level of abidance for precautionary rules and we hope that it will stay that way.”

However, not all schools had as successful of an experience as Zu’bi’s school did.

“There was a lot of disobedience, especially regarding physical distancing measures. The principal tried his best to enforce the rules, however, threatening those who violate the measures with suspension,” said a teacher at a school in Aqaba, who preferred to remain anonymous.

The teacher told The Jordan Times in a phone interview that the reason behind the “carelessness” was either “a lack of belief in the virus passed down by the parents, a sense of safety, or mere rebellion”.

Eman Muhtaseb, a counsellor at a private school, said that it was “hard, especially for children in the lower grades, to understand the rules, so teachers had to keep watch. We hope this will improve with time”.

Muhtaseb noted that as the continuation of school attendance hangs in the balance of a stable virus situation, students “seem to care about keeping the school open more than their comfort”.