Within five days, about five thousand injuries were recorded, in various regions of the country. This resulted in the closure of 130 educational institutions.
In its weekly bulletin to track the epidemiological situation in schools, the Ministry of Education confirmed that the injuries were recorded from January 10 to 15, and that educational institutions that witnessed injuries were closed, including 24 institutions affiliated with foreign missions in Morocco.
The preventive measures adopted by the Ministry at the beginning of the current school season require the closure of the classroom and the adoption of distance education for a period of seven days, when three or more injuries are recorded in the same semester within one week.
But in the event that ten or more injuries are recorded in different classrooms at the institution level, a decision is taken to close the institution and to adopt distance education for a period of seven days.
For weeks, Morocco has been experiencing a third epidemic wave that has prompted the government to take a number of decisions, including closing the air and sea borders, since last November.
Confusion as exams approach
The decision to close schools created a state of anger among the students’ families, especially in the regions of Casablanca and Rabat, which topped the list of closed schools with 94 schools out of 130.
Noureddine Akkouri, head of the Federation of Parents and Guardians of Students in Morocco, considered that the successive closure of schools created a kind of confusion in the educational process, especially with the approaching date of exams for the end of the first sixth.
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, Akuri considered it unreasonable to close a school with more than 1,000 students, just because ten people were infected with Covid-19, adding, “For me, a number of students are on an emergency vacation.”
Instead of resorting to closing schools, the educational official proposes imposing a strict monitoring system to compel students to respect preventive measures, while following up on each case individually, by asking parents to prevent their children from coming to class if a family member is injured or suspected.
As for Saeed Afif, a doctor and a member of the Scientific Committee for Immunization, the institutions that were closed for a temporary period, together have a few thousand students, which is a “weak number” compared to the total number of students in the Kingdom, which exceeds one million.
On the other hand, and in an interview with Sky News Arabia, Dr. Afif, a specialist in pediatrics, considers that in-person education remains the most appropriate method for achievement, considering that distance education has a negative impact on the psyche of students and also on their ability to understand lessons.
Distance learning experience
This proposal is reinforced by Noureddine Akkouri, President of the Federation of Parents and Guardians of Students in Morocco, who confirms that field visits to a number of educational institutions reveal a “lack of readiness” to experience distance education again.
In March 2020, the Moroccan government imposed a comprehensive quarantine, as a result of which all schools were closed, while students were obliged to stay in their homes and receive their lessons remotely.
Teachers recorded lessons via videos broadcast on television and the Internet, and communicated directly with students via the WhatsApp application.
However, this experience, unprecedented in Morocco, faced many problems related mainly to the lack of means of work and the readiness of educational cadres, especially in rural areas due to problems related to the weak Internet.
With the spread of the second epidemic wave last summer, the Ministry of Education was forced, in September, to postpone school entry for a month to avoid the distance education scenario, but it made this “difficult” option available, according to the development of the epidemiological situation.
Omicron turns the rules
Since the end of last year, Morocco has been experiencing a third epidemic wave characterized by the dominance of the Omicron mutant.
According to the latest data revealed by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, cases infected with the Omicron mutant represent 95 percent of all infections.
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, Moaz Al-Mrabet, coordinator of the Ministry’s Public Health Emergency Center, confirmed that 5 percent of Moroccan children were infected with Covid-19, and it is likely that the percentage will be greater than that.
Al-Murabet explains this situation by the lack of examinations for children, as they do not show symptoms, but the health official confirmed the death of some children as a result of infection with the virus, especially those who suffer from chronic diseases.
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