Government says losing academic time is worse than COVID

Despite the risk of more coronavirus infections, the government of Mauritania decided to resume education on 11 January as it believes that the high cost of closing learning institutions and losing academic time outweighs the health risks posed by COVID-19.

Mauritania's Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Information and Communication Technologies, Sidi Ould Salem, made the announcement following a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 7 January.

"It is necessary to live with the coronavirus pandemic, otherwise we will witness losses in our educational system," said Ould Salem. He added that everyone had to respect health measures such as wearing masks and social distancing and called on individual educational institutions to adhere to these procedures.

Mauritania's Ministry of Health has officially registered 15,352 cases of COVID-19, including 382 fatalities, since 8 January but the actual number of cases is likely to be much higher than the number of confirmed cases due to limited testing, according to the website Our World In Data.

Mixed responses

Sheikh Ibrahim Ould Al-Din, the current secretary-general of the General Union of Mauritanian Students (GUMS), welcomed the decision, saying to University World News via a WhatsApp voice recording: "This decision has been welcomed by the majority of the students in higher education institutions as it avoids losing academic time, but health measures must be strictly applied."

Al-Khalil Ould Mohamed Al-Hafiz, the former secretary-general of GUMS, and Sheikh Mahfouz Ould Al-Jewde, the secretary-general of the Union of Hope for Mauritanian Students told University World News they agreed with the decision.

"What students need is finding a way for continuing their studies at the university to protect their academic futures. Based on specialisation, some subjects should be taught face-to-face under strict health measures and others could be taught online," said Al-Jewde.

For example, the University of Islamic Sciences in Laayoune (UISL) has used distance education in about 70% of its courses to deal with coronavirus pandemic challenges, including lockdowns and university closure, using the available tools including Google Meet, Zoom and WhatsApp, according to a 1 January report entitled The Outcome of Distance Education at the University of Islamic Sciences in Laayoune.

"In this process, the students' circumstances were taken into account in terms of their ability to access the internet or not, due to the presence of some of them in areas with poor internet coverage and, in this case, the option of audios and notes was adopted on WhatsApp, as an alternative that provides greater flexibility in this regard," the report stated.

Not everyone agreed with the continuation of classes. A member of the Al-Wava Student Union, told University World News via Facebook messenger: "Resuming studies in educational institutions is not a wise decision due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic."

Better than a catch-up year

Higher education expert Ahmed Atia, the head of the department of advisory and research at the faculty of medical technology of the University of Tripoli in Libya, told University World News: "The re-opening of educational institutions in Mauritania offers hope. It is better to catch up the academic year than a wasted year.

"Higher education institutions would need to convey their reopening plans to students, faculty and staff clearly," he added.

Communications should be clear about the steps to be taken to safeguard health, including the density reduction measures in classrooms, dormitories and dining areas; response plans where COVID-19 cases occur on campus; and personal health and safety compliance expectations, including mask-wearing and physical distance.

"Preparations on how decisions would be taken to shut down the campus if COVID-19 outbreaks arise must be on the table," Atia concluded.