Tunisia – Division of opinion in Tunisia over the closure of schools to curb covid

Location: Tunis – Tunisia

Language: Arabic

Voice: Natural

Duration: 00:05:07

Source: A24

Restriction: A24 Clients

Dateline: 21-01-2022

Storyline:

Demands have been raised in Tunisia, for closing schools or adopting the rotation system, after news spread about an outbreak of Covid in the schools, with a high toll of deaths recorded among children, sparking fears among parents and the educational framework in Tunisia.

Meanwhile, the scientific committee and specialized doctors denied the cases of death, stating that the number of recorded cases is normal and does not urge closing schools. However, the Ministry of Education followed the recommendations to continue the studying process as usual despite the opposing voices.

Shot list:

• (SOUNDBITE) Abdul-Raouf – Parent:
• “Students should go to their school. We trust the scientific committee and they decide whether schools should be closed or not, and they say no, we won’t close the schools.”
• (SOUNDBITE) Layla- Parent:
• “I am with the schools’ closure. There are many cases in Marseilles Primary School, and they did not inform the parents, nor did they close, so I am with the closure, as children bring the virus to their families, so the best thing is to close schools.”
• (SOUNDBITE) Salwa – Parent:
• “Closing schools isn’t a solution, the level of study has become poor. I have children and I see them spend all day using phones sitting at home. We have to take our precautions by wearing the masks, using sanitizers, keeping the social distance, opening the windows, and doing our role”
• (SOUNDBITE) Noureddine Toujani – Member of the Education Syndicate:

“Covid’s surge has developed, the Ministry of Health reported that the cases reached 34.25% on January 18, but despite all this, the Ministry of Education is still taking the same position, and although all the education syndicate, primary to secondary schools and all demanded the suspension of classes for a certain period, determined by the Scientific Committee of 10 to 15 days or a week until the loop of this mutant is broken. Unfortunately the ministry, until yesterday, stated that there is no suspension of classes and this stubbornness will affect only our children and put them in the exposure to covid. The ministry does not seek to save the young, but it stresses that there is no danger on them and that things are under control yet all the health condition is out of control.”

• (SOUNDBITE) Mohamed Douaji – Pediatrician and President of the Tunisian Association of Parents of Children:

“The panic came from the Facebook pages on which some people confirm the death of somebody in their areas, while there are no dead children in January. We have monitored hospitals, especially university hospital departments, which receive difficult cases, we found that the ICU department at Al-Bashir Hamza Children’s Hospital, in this wave of omicron, did not receive any cases. The story is that the number is not large and the young children over five years of age are true that they get sick, but only go to their doctor and take medicine for fever and return to their homes. So, we contacted the scientific committee, which was convinced by our proposal, and it was decided two days ago that we will not close the departments, we will not close the schools, and even the quarantine period for infected children and adults is only 5 days.”

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