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Goma, DR Congo – Children across the Democratic Republic of the Congo are returning to school on Tuesday as the country battles its largest Ebola outbreak on record, prompting concern among parents and teachers in the worst-hit province of Ituri.
Government figures showed 6,041 confirmed cases and 2,911 deaths as of August 31, surpassing the previous worst outbreak, which ran from 2018 to 2020.
Six of the country’s 26 provinces are affected. Ituri, in the northeast, remains the epicentre, with 4,802 confirmed cases recorded as of August 26.
Where are parents’ fears coming from?
In Bunia, Ituri’s provincial capital, parents are questioning whether schools should reopen while the outbreak continues to spread.
“As a parent, I am concerned about the announcement that schools are reopening, especially as we are facing the Ebola outbreak in our region. We are asking the government what measures they will put in place to protect children from this disease,” said Dieudonne Lotsima, a father of three and resident of Bunia.
Lotsima believes classes should be postponed until a vaccine specifically effective against the virus causing the outbreak becomes available.
Pupils in Goma return to school as authorities introduce measures to limit the spread of Ebola in affected parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo [Prosper Heri/Al Jazeera]“Children are children,” he told Al Jazeera. “They may not wash their hands at the washbasins, and if they become infected, they risk infecting the whole family. This return to school is uncertain, and if we do not take steps to protect the children, I do not know what we can do.”
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a species of ebolavirus different from the Zaire ebolavirus, which has caused most previous Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment specifically for Bundibugyo virus disease. Ervebo, the vaccine approved against Zaire ebolavirus, is being given to front-line health workers, but its effectiveness against Bundibugyo has not been established. The World Health Organization is supporting a clinical trial to assess whether it can protect against the strain responsible for the current outbreak.
How is the government reopening schools?
Rather than impose a nationwide closure, the government is using different arrangements according to the level of Ebola risk.
In the highest-risk areas, pupils will study from home using printed materials and radio programmes, according to the Ministry of Education. Workbooks and learning sheets covering essential parts of the curriculum will be distributed, while local and community radio stations will broadcast programmes to accompany them. Families without radios may also be provided with them.
Raissa Malu, the minister of education, said on August 18 that 40 of the country’s 138 educational subdivisions in Ebola-affected provinces were affected by the outbreak. Eighteen were classified as high risk.
The government has divided areas into three categories: green, where there is no reported Ebola transmission; orange, where areas are affected but can continue with additional precautions; and red, where the risk is considered highest.
“We are, in fact, going to introduce a system of worksheets that will be produced in line with the curriculum, focusing on essential knowledge, and distributed to children to enable them to continue their work at home,” Malu told Al Jazeera.
She stressed that the arrangement was not online or internet-based teaching.
But Catherine Neema, a mother of two in Bunia, remains unconvinced.
“I’m not sure I’ll send my child to school. When the children start school, there will be too many people. People may come into close contact with one another and become infected,” she said.
Neema said her eldest child began the holidays when confirmed Ebola cases stood at about 1,500, with 470 deaths.
Why are teachers still worried?
The Ituri 1 Teachers’ Inter-Union Committee says the epidemiological situation is not conducive to a safe return to school.
Budju Lobo Isaac, a trade union member, said schools needed basic health measures before children and teachers returned.
Students gather in a school courtyard with school officials as the new academic year begins in the Democratic Republic of the Congo [Prosper Heri/Al Jazeera]“We cannot sacrifice the lives of children and teachers just to stick to a timetable. Before reopening schools, we must ensure minimum health and safety standards are in place: handwashing facilities, hand sanitiser, thermal scanners, and monitoring and support for teachers,” he told Al Jazeera.
Education officials have also been training staff in Ituri to identify risky behaviour, promote preventive measures, and educate pupils about Ebola.
“We have trained inspectors, senior officials from the provincial directorate, and other members of teachers’ unions,” said Jean-Baptiste Ngona Kivi, acting head of the General Education Service in the Ituri 1 educational province. “They will be deployed to the sub-districts to pass on this training on Ebola protection techniques to headteachers and teachers.”
Can schools also help fight Ebola?
Professor Yap Boum, incident manager at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for the response to the Bundibugyo outbreak, sees the return to school as an opportunity to reach families with information about Ebola.
“Once they have been made aware of the Ebola virus disease, when they return home, they also help to raise awareness amongst adults,” he told Al Jazeera. “So this is another opportunity we see in children returning to school.”
