Should students be free to decide to go back face to face classes?

 

Given the difficult situation the world is facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, several countries are at different stages in deciding how and when to return to face-to-face classes. Such decisions are usually made by state or national governments, often in collaboration with local authorities. However, there is an undeniable need among students to return to the classroom, as they feel that the virtual modality does not provide them with the desired academic development, in addition to the inevitable need for social contact among students, which is essential to develop communication skills and establish academic relationships when carrying out group activities. But is this really the right time to return to the face-to-face modality, even though Covid-19 cases are still on the rise? Should students be left to decide whether or not they wish to return to face-to-face classes? Will giving students such power be feasible in the current situation the world is going through? There are several questions that education authorities are asking themselves regarding the return to classes.

Due to these questions, the authorities have decided to incorporate a plan of progressive and voluntary return to the classrooms to supervise the development of academic activities and at the same time to follow up on possible contagions that may occur during this process. However, parents do not agree with exposing their children to a possible contagion and have made the decision that their children continue in the virtual modality, this in the case of basic education and high school, on the contrary, many young university students wish to return to the educational institutions, especially students of specialties that require practices for their academic training, For this reason they ask to be the ones to decide whether or not to return to the classroom, although it is not only about the desire to return to on-site classes, the authorities understand the needs of students but above all prioritize their welfare and that of their families.

In conclusion, when deciding whether to reopen higher education institutions, the authorities must consider the benefits and risks, public health and socioeconomic factors, in the local context of each student, therefore the decision to return to classes cannot be chosen by the students, only the authorities have the power to take measures and establish decrees according to the current situation of the country with respect to the numbers of contagions recorded daily.