For some, today marks the start of term two of the school year. However, with the whole country still in level four lockdown, learning will look a little different from how it was before. 

Today, Mahurangi College, Matakana Primary School and Warkworth Primary School will begin their distance learning programs which students access online. 

Some schools are expected to physically reopen to staff and students on April 29, provided New Zealand comes out of lockdown on April 23, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. However, he warned that many schools would remain closed for much longer. “We’ve got to make sure we have a really good understanding of all the risks involved in reopening schools and early learning services as we go down that road, so that’s not necessarily all going to happen as we go from level four to level three.”

When schools do return, measures of social distancing should be put in place until Covid-19 is under control. Early childhood centres could pose a problem, as young children won’t understand the need or concept of distancing, and they require much more hands-on physical care than older students. 

Doctor Mike Bedford, the only post-graduate public health qualified expert in ECE (early childhood education) health in New Zealand, has personally investigated some 50 ECE and community outbreaks, especially viral outbreaks. He believes that reopening early childcare centres too soon could be a recipe for disaster. “Children in ECE can be at an age where they are constantly touching and mouthing surfaces and objects, with surface contamination from oral and nasal secretions. Let's face it – goo is normal. ECE centres have proven very effective at producing point-source outbreaks with rapid community spread.

“It is very important that while we still have community transmission risk, we limit attendance to essential needs only, and we must have much better provision for space per child, teacher/child ratios and group size.”

The Ministry of Education has yet to announce if early childhood centres will share the proposed start date of April 29th.