Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Non-Communicable diseases research center, Shiraz university of medical sciences, Shiraz, Iran
2
Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
3
Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
4
Non-Communicable diseases research center, Shiraz university of medical sciences, Shiraz, Iran,
5
Thoracic and Vascular Surgery Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
6
Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
Abstract
Introduction: Like many countries, in our country schools were reopened by September
2021, mainly because of massive personal and social costs due to the social distancing
strategies. With the emergence of Omicron variant, questions are raised and still not fully
answered about the causes of a noticeable increase in pediatric ICU admissions. Currently,
schools have reopened. In this retrospective study, the parents’ willingness to September 2021
school reopening was investigated.
Methods: We extracted data from approximately 3,700 parents. The data gathering tool was
a self-administered, semi-structured, web-based survey, which was filled by the parents from
July 18th, 2021 to August 3rd, 2021.
Results: Only 38.4% of parents agreed with school reopening. The most common reason
parents were concerned with, irrespective of their agreement status, was full vaccination
of students, teachers, and staff (83.6%); also, the most common concern that might have
enforced the parents to consider school reopening was lower learning achievements at home
using the online platforms (55.6%). Furthermore, full-time online learning was still the
mostly preferred mode of reopening by the parents (43.48%).
Conclusion: The agreement with school reopening was low among the parents and their
highest concern was full vaccination of students, teachers, and staff. During the longer
closure, the impact on students will worsen; policymakers should accelerate and encourage
the vaccination of young ages, supply safety measures, and retain the trust of the community
for school reopening.
Keywords
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