With the onset of the Coronavirus and precautionary measures undertaken to help curb its spread, it seems as if our leaders have lost their sense of priorities. School closures not only impact students, teachers, and families but have far reaching economic and societal consequences.

Modern thinking gives education utmost importance over any other sector of society. It is education which will allow our coming generations to succeed and further build on what we pass on to them. This is what makes the current situation in Pakistan so absolutely dismal.

The government of Pakistan is now focused on reopening sectors of the economy and it has done so with almost every sector now. The sad news is that as always, education is now the only major sector which has yet to hear of a concrete reopening date. It is understandable that developing new norms to resume education is a difficult task but we must not let its difficulty overshadow its importance.

Let’s take a look at how developed countries and institutions across the world have dealt with the ongoing pandemic. Most of Europe is rightly focused on opening schools before any other sector of the economy is opened up. Some countries even went as far to keep schools open; they understand that children and their learning are the future. The U.K. has now announced that it will be up to schools to decide when to re-open.

Furthermore, the University of Cambridge has announced that they will only conduct online classes until summer 2021. For the first time in 800 years the prestigious university has closed its doors. It can only be speculated that they have done so keeping in view the current situation and understanding that this is not a short-term problem.

Has our government decided to keep our children out of school all the way up to the summer of 2021 or until a vaccine is successfully developed? Do they not understand the catastrophic damage that this will have on our children’s learning?

First and foremost, we need to work on SOPs to get children back to school and educational institutions opened. As has been identified by multiple elected law makers that the infrastructure in Pakistan does not allow for effective distance learning (online learning). This is due to the fact that many households do not have access to a stable internet connection along with other hardware which will allow for seamless learning.

It is therefore essential that we fully utilize the present infrastructure to allow for classes with distancing measures in place. Class size should be reduced and children should be taught how to behave while adhering to distancing. Personal protective equipment should be made compulsory for all teachers and students. Yes, these measures will require funds but we must understand that no funds are better spent then those in the way of improving our future generations, our children.

The present scenario is absolutely unacceptable; one in which the government is not formulating a road map to open government schools. As per current predictions, we will have to modify our way of life until a vaccine is developed which could take a year or more. It is absolutely essential that we realize that education can not be put on the back burner until that time comes.