Public divided over the safety of a full return to campus

From March, when the majority of governments across the globe called a state of emergency, shutting down face-to-face education due to the COVID-19 outbreak, universities have been closed in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Remote learning has taken place widely across all university programmes so that students were able to finish their semesters.

Universities across Colombia are no exception: 2020 will be remembered as both an unprecedented one for higher education and also one of great change, not only because the COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to rethink the model they have been operating under, but also because faculty members, students and staff are having to adapt to a new reality – a hybrid model of teaching and learning.

This has been common across Latin America, where governments and university leaders have been working together to ensure the safe reopening of higher education institutions. While recognising the uncertainties inherent in discussing any timeline for returning to pre-outbreak normality, leaders and governments have striven to lay out key considerations and measures for reopening higher education institutions.

In any event, the gradual return to the classroom is dependent on the behaviour of people during the pandemic. The Colombian government has sought to increase students’ sense of safety about returning to campus by putting in place strict biosecurity measures and allowing classes to operate at smaller capacities.

For Alejandro Cheyne, president of Universidad del Rosario, the post-coronavirus university must offer a space for academic and research excellence where face-to-face and virtual learning converge. For him the biggest challenge will be how to make technology enrich the educational process.

“Some people find remote access challenging and it is not. Technology can be acquired and appropriated. The challenge is pedagogical,” he says.

The hybrid model

Nevertheless, there are educational programmes that have a compulsory practical component. So, higher education institutions have been publishing their plans for easing the restrictions that were put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 and some have already reopened for students and faculty who need to use labs for their coursework.

Under the hybrid model, leaders of the G8, a network made up of some of the most reputable Colombian universities, have said they are looking at using artificial intelligence – such as the CES platform, a coronavirus app created to update all COVID-19 information – to contain the pandemic inside universities as well as strategies aimed at reducing the flow of people in classrooms at any given time.

Here is what some of the universities have announced so far in Colombia:

• Disinfection stations such as sinks, soap and sanitiser dispensers have been installed.

• Limiting access to campuses initially for students who need to complete the practical component of medical courses.

• Mandatory wearing of masks by staff, faculty members, students and visitors to universities facilities.

Other measures include: social distancing restrictions, the availability of appropriate personal protective equipment, environmental measures such as enhanced cleaning and disinfection and preparing the campus infrastructure and national health care system for cases.

In addition, universities have restricted daily access to only 150 people on staggered schedules, with additional biosecurity measures, temperature checks at university entrances and there are restrictions on the use of parking lots. Cafeterias have also been closed.

Growing fears about a full return

Nevertheless, concern is increasing about whether it is safe to open institutions.

On one hand, leaders are highlighting the growing mental health issues for young people and children and even their parents. Experts have pointed out that large periods of quarantine may have a damaging effect on people’s minds, especially those living in socio-economically vulnerable conditions.

A recent study conducted by the Colombian Neurosciences Institute, a private organisation focused on healthcare and education, set off alarm bells due to its findings regarding the growth of mental pathologies, particularly depression and anxiety, resulting from lockdown.

These considerations as well as those of health authorities’ policies in relation to mitigating risks – since there is no action that can completely eliminate the possibility of contagion – are being taken into account by decision-makers at the local and national level when it comes to the total reopening of higher education institutions.

The country is indeed divided as to whether it is feasible to fully reopen or not. Certainly, parents, education unions and some student groups have expressed their concerns, while leaders and some local governments have called for a return to class whether in face-to-face or hybrid model, with proper implementation of biosecurity measures at all times.

Walter Suarez is a professor at the Universidad de Sucre in Colombia. His current research focuses on how higher education institutions can play different roles, how technologies can serve as a catalyst for collaborative learning and the link between gender inequality and academic mobility in higher education. E-mail: walter.suarez@unisucre.edu.co, Twitter: @WalterSuarezG