Denmark reopens schools after a month of lockdown

According to a New York Times feature, Denmark has become the first county in the western world to reopen its school doors a month after their lockdown.

350 students of the Logumkloster District School returned to school last week Wednesday.

Other countries like France and Spain have still not re-opened, with kids being in the house for over 5 weeks.

Also read: May 6 could be back to school for matrics if lockdown ends April 30 – report

Some of the parents have expressed disappointment in the education system for reopening schools prematurely. They fear that their children are being used as sacrificial lambs to help the economy function again.
The Danish government’s logic with reopening is that parents will have enough time to focus on their work.

An Economics Professor Carl-Johan Dalsgard argued that “you are dramatically less efficient when you have to home-school your children and take care of them every day”.

The school had to make a few adjustments in light of this pandemic:

-Each child now has their own desk
-Students are sitting two yards (2 meters) away from each other
-They are only allowed to play in small groups during recess
-They wash their hands every hour for the full 6 hours of school

Before the kids go back to class, they have to measure how far apart they need to be from each other, and the library needs to remain closed as it could be a hotspot for a virus.

The Danish government has gone against the precautions given by the World Health Organisation, which advised against reopening, but could also be used a benchmark for other countries that would like to reopen their economies soon.