Suspend this school year

I DISAGREE with schools being open during this time when PNG is being hit harder by the pandemic.
If the Education secretary thinks that the schools that have had positive cases are the only ones to be put on notice, he should think twice.
Students, just like anyone else are at a high-risk of contracting the virus from outside and due to the fact that every school in the city is overcrowded, it’s almost impossible to allow schools to operate as normal and still ask them to practice social distancing.
Students mingle around with each other very day, both in classrooms and outside, and that puts them at a high risk of transmitting the virus.
If the secretary is adamant on completing the academic year by rescheduling the contact hours in schools in hope of maintaining social distancing, then he should also be thinking quality and quantity.
What is important is not completing the academic year, it’s the quality and quantity of the lessons in order to complete the year successfully.
I still believe it’s not safe to keep the schools open and hope for the best. The best thing to do is to suspend the academic year until we have the guarantee that the schools are safe to re-open.

DW, Via email