The schools must not be closed!

5846 View

In the Kurdistan Region, the schools are closed. The government says that it wants to prevent coronavirus from spreading and to save the lives of the children. However, in doing so, children are losing something vital to their development.

In every society, education is the most powerful weapon. Without education, human beings are merely brutal animals. Without education, people in society will not know how to live and will be worse than dangerous animals. A society that exists without education is very dangerous.

Medical studies have shown that younger children are less susceptible to the novel coronavirus that others, making schools less risky places for transmission compared with places that have consistently remained open like the bazaar. While the schools are empty, the cafeterias, the restaurants, and the buses are full. Therefore, the excuse for closing the schools and the universities is not fair and harms children by depriving them of education.

As we see nowadays, there is no respect for education, schools, teachers, and the value for learning. The way of living for children is also changing. They are awake all-night playing games and spending their time on personal tablets and smartphones. Apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, PUBG, Tiktok, and others present a lifestyle that is far from real life, which influences children who want to follow that image.

This is highly risky for the future of this country, as the children fall for the facade and ignore the important issues. This is an important issue and, in some ways, worse than the virus. For children and teenagers in the Kurdistan Region, all the online videos and electronic games are there at their fingertips, but proper education is not!

This is why I disagree with the decision of the government to close schools and believe that it is wrong. I am worried about the current life opportunities of children and the impact the school closures will have on their future.  They deserve to have a good education, a better life, and a bright future. Otherwise, what is the meaning of their existence?

Media channels are not speaking about the issue. They stay silent about the government's decision to keep the schools closed. They do not see the risks that the children will face in the future. The absence of proper education will not teach children any important life lessons, which they will be displaced by false visons gleaned from social media.

Education teaches children how to learn, how to survive in society, and how to earn a living. While there are many flaws with the education system in the Kurdistan Region, certain activities like listening, paying attention, expressing opinions, interacting, and getting along with people is are things we can only properly learn in school. We learn discipline in the classroom and it is where we determine what is important in life and decide how to better our future. This is better than ignoring reality and living in a fake image of life built by social media.

To that end, the government should value children and their future and move to reopen schools in the Kurdistan Region, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Karwan Ibrahim, is a senior news editor in Iraqi Kurdistan, and studied for his Master's in Communication and Journalism in India. He can be reached at karwantree@gmail.com

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and or those quoted and do not necessarily reflect those of NRT.