European Parents' 'School Attendance Boycott' Deepens... "Measures Taken Too Early"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Although European countries are resuming school attendance as the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) slows down, many parents are reportedly still boycotting sending their children to school, citing ongoing COVID-19 risks. Experts warn that while children are less affected by COVID-19, hastening the lifting of school closures could lead to children becoming asymptomatic carriers of the virus.

According to foreign media including the Associated Press on the 10th (local time), European countries including France plan to resume school attendance starting from the 11th. The French government announced that despite reopening schools, concerns about COVID-19 spread remain, so attendance will resume under the condition that the number of students per class in kindergartens and elementary schools is limited to 10 to 15. School attendance will not be mandatory, and students who do not wish to attend can continue online classes from home.

Parents are expressing anxiety, saying that the authorities’ decision to resume school attendance is too early. In Denmark, which lifted school closures on the 15th of last month, thousands of parents organized a collective school boycott. Especially on this day, concerns about resurgence are growing as more than 180 people were infected in a cluster at a slaughterhouse in Germany following the easing of quarantine measures. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s disease control agency, announced that the COVID-19 reproduction number rose to 1.1 on this day. This is a significant increase from 0.65 on the 6th, when easing measures were implemented. The reproduction number indicates how many people one infected person can transmit the virus to.

Experts warn that although children rarely develop severe symptoms from COVID-19, they can serve as asymptomatic transmission vectors. The World Health Organization (WHO) previously stated that children under 13 years old are the least affected demographically by COVID-19 and tend to show mild symptoms. Additionally, WHO noted that school closures have significantly contributed to curbing the spread of COVID-19 so far. According to UNESCO, more than 1.5 billion students in 195 countries have experienced school closures since the COVID-19 outbreak. There are concerns that a second wave of infections is likely to occur after the widespread school closures are lifted.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.