The coronavirus pandemic and the Ministry of Education's inaction.

Placing education as a strategic policy for national development was one of the reasons that allowed South Korea to become the great economic and technological power it is today. Even during wartime, classes were maintained, albeit in tents, and not a single semester of school was lost in that country. 

This strategic vision has resulted in 75% of young Koreans having graduated from or attending higher education. Korea was also one of the countries that demonstrated the best response in controlling the novel coronavirus, with the adoption of selective isolations, adequate diagnostic testing, and temperature checks for the early detection of infected individuals. 

Beyond all the irresponsibility and inability to manage the crisis related to the new coronavirus in Brazil on the part of the Bolsonaro government, we need to talk about the complete omission of the Ministry of Education. While the Minister of Education was playing at spreading fake news, attacking the press, and mocking the possible contamination by the new coronavirus of a respected leader in the sector, our students were sent into home isolation, prudently, but without any measures, preparation, or guidance from the Ministry.

The least that could be expected from the Bolsonaro government was that it would plan and guide the school systems during this very difficult time. One of the measures that should have been taken was the presentation of pedagogical guidelines and a directed plan of readings and exercises for parents to implement at home. Furthermore, the adoption, where possible, of forms of distance learning. Even in this public health crisis, students need to remain in contact with play, with books, with letters, and with numbers.

Instead, the only measure presented by the Minister of Education was the haphazard and demagogic summoning of medical, nursing, and physiotherapy students to return to classes, without presenting any protective measures or planning for them. Following this, he allowed mandatory internships for advanced students in medical and health-related courses, a measure that, if properly implemented, could contribute to reinforcing the immense pressure that the SUS (Brazilian Unified Health System) and the entire public health network will face. He also took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to implement yet another absurd cut in research grants for master's and doctoral programs, with the publication of a CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) decree that significantly tightens the rules for grant distribution. 

The Ministry of Education could have drawn on the experience of the Ministry and the entire education sector when it led the fight against the dengue and Zika virus epidemics in the recent past, in the memorable campaign "one mosquito is not bigger than a nation".

Given this further omission and the Bolsonaro government's inability to care for the people, it is necessary for state and municipal networks to take action and ensure, first and foremost, school meals, which are fundamental for low-income families. Following that, a study plan, reading, and exercises for each grade level are needed. Faced with the complete inaction of the Bolsonaro government, federal, state, and municipal networks must take the lead in ensuring that our children and young people continue studying, confined to their homes, during this very difficult time, which could worsen and be prolonged.