Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1290275
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 SEPTEMBER 2020 CORONAVIRUS CRISIS cautiousness on COVID-19 reopening as Project Fear. May 22 Hairdressers and Restaurants re-open. June 3 As active cases fall to 51, Charmaine Gauci announces that regular Medical Bulletins will be stopped. June 5 Bars and gyms re-open. June 30 Public health emergency lifted July 1 Airport re-opened. July 17 Only 3 active cases remain as Malta seems set to become COVID free. July 26 14 new COVID cases detected, 9 from hotel party. August 3 PM blames COVID-19 spike on infected migrants arriving in Malta after being rescued. August 4 16 new COVID cases, 5 linked to St Venera feast. August 11 PM downplays spike telling journalists that 'new cases are mild' as 29 cases are recorded in a single day. August 15 72 test positive for COVID-19 while PM is on holiday in Sicily. August 17 Deputy PM Chris Fearne announces closure of bars and clubs, but decision is partly reversed for bars serving snacks. September 16 Record 106 cases of COVID detected, 51 of which in old people's homes. THE pandemic amplified pre-COVID inequali- ties. Several pre-COVID studies have shown that reduced instructional time, a feature of the educa- tional provision in COVID times, lowers academic achievement. The phenomenon of learning loss has been evidenced by studies measuring regression after the summer recess. Such research not on- ly highlights general educational loss through re- duced educational interaction, but also illustrates how reduced instructional time mostly affects children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Such children have fewer school-relevant educational opportunities outside the formal education system. In the past 200 days, children living in privileged, well-equipped, economically resourceful and social- ly connected families were generally well served at home. Willing and available parents, with a high level of education, were helping their children with learn- ing. Some used their economic potential to support their children with private tuition. Many were in a position to provide their children with the hardware, software and internet speed required to maximise virtual learning. When necessary, they used their so- cial networking to further resource their children's education. As illustrated by pre-COVID research on paren- tal engagement in education, spending most of the time at home, with their educationally endowed and committed parents, significantly helped the chil- dren's cognitive development. Privileged home environments contrast sharply with home ecologies characterised by precarious living. COVID hit hardest those families living close to the poverty line. Such families were impacted by: job loss; severe reduction in working hours; and the shrinking of the informal economy, an important lifeline for a sector of the population which is living precariously. Health issues, which could not be addressed be- cause of limited income, poor nutrition, crowded spaces, digital deprivation, social ghettoization, lack of contact with significant adults outside the home, and possible early leaving from school in an attempt to contribute economically to the family's lost in- come, constitute some of the social realties that im- pacted the educational fortunes of underprivileged children, widening the educational gap in the pro- cess. Evidence also suggests that disadvantaged children were hit hardest by the uneven online provision. Students who were receiving low quality remote learning, poor home help and reduced support ser- vices should be expected to show signs of academic stagnation when assessed for learning. WHILST COVID-19 has had various, uneven im- pacts on Maltese society, it would be preposterous to reduce social change to any singular determining factor. One can look into the impacts of a social phenom- enon like COVID-19 and how it relates to other phenomena: for example, industries such as tourism are facing uncertainty, and public finances are con- stantly under pressure to make up for the crisis. At the same time, Malta's dependency on construction seems to be as influential as ever. The world of employment is facing changes: work- ers who lost their jobs, others who are adjusting themselves to digital methods, and new challenges for the work-life balance. In turn, this dovetails with sectors such as education and with existing social factors such as class, gender and social status. For there is a difference between a worker on con- tract in a sector facing precariousness, with anoth- er worker with job security. If one factors in other considerations, such as social integration, diversity, demographic change and caring responsibilities, the equation becomes even more complex, where peo- ple share commonalities (for example COVID-driv- en anxieties) and particularities (for example one's specific family/household situation). The reproduction of salient Maltese cultural char- acteristics can be observed too: a sense of communi- ty when facing national challenges, a lack of planning and enforcement in certain policy aspects, personal- ized and factionalized politics, and the resilience of the consumerist identity in a car-driven society. Each and every one of us faces an extra COVID-in- fluenced layer of daily dilemmas and choices in a so- ciety of opportunities and risks. We may have more questions than answers. In a social reality made up of plural truths and identities, the challenges of recognising and trusting governance processes and the evidence-based knowledge becomes ever more complex. Upcoming conflicting school opening challenges and vaccine narratives may be two cases in point. COVID-19 introduced itself to Malta in the form of racism. 'Chinese looking' individuals were marked as carriers of disease. The scapegoating then turned to 'Italians' who were also confronted with hostility and isolation. It was only a matter of time before African asylum seekers were demarcated as a threat. Decades of political scapegoating and inadequate re- ception facilities paved the way for more institution- al violence and the violation of international human rights law. The strategy receives fairly widespread support, hardly surprising given the decades of racial- ised nationalistic politics stoking fear and resentment. The scapegoating of the migrant has become an es- tablished response to any perceived threat to Malta and 'Malteseness'. And so the economy minister's 'citizens first' response can hardly be described as a shock. His declaration that "charity begins at home" and that all foreign workers would have to leave or be deported was xenophobic, ill-advised and irresponsi- ble, but not surprising. The next day he was forced to apologize, his remarks were not only deeply offensive, but potentially may have produced a bigger threat to the Maltese economy than the virus itself. Lessons, it seems, are not absorbed easily, and the government was forced to make another U-turn on the distribution of vouchers for everyone living and working in Malta. The Maltese economy, the health system and front- line response all depend on migrant workers, includ- ing care workers, nurses, doctors, refuse workers, agricultural workers, drivers, sanitation workers. For those of us living in Malta – migrant and citizen, our recovery primarily depends on the Oxford COV- ID-19 vaccine team: a team made up of migrants from around the world, in another part of the world. Sadly, this reality is not widely acknowledged or un- derstood. The virus has demonstrated our complex inter-re- latedness, our interdependence, and our shared vul- nerability. Our lives – both citizen and migrant – are defined by globalization: this includes health risks and opportunities. COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to our health and wellbeing, particularly the most vul- nerable members of our society. Rapid social, cultural and economic change has contributed to a sense of anxiety and insecurity in Malta. These sentiments, which may be justified, were fur- ther stoked by the pandemic, and are manifest in a visceral fear of the 'stranger'. Propagating this fear is a cheap and dangerous short-term political strategy that will result in more pain and social division. The situation calls for political honesty, maturity and a shift away from an insular, 'citizen first' ap- proach that is out of sync with our contemporary glo- balised reality: 'our' recovery will be the consequence of global health interdependence, and the varied and critical contribution migrants make to our collective and individual wellbeing. THE EXPERTS Prof. Carmel Borg Department of Education Studies University of Malta Dr Michael Briguglio Sociologist and senior lecturer at the Unversity of Malta Dr Maria Pisani Senior lecturer, Faculty of Social Wellbeing, University of Malta, spokesperson Integra Foundation "The Maltese economy, the health system and frontline response all depend on migrant workers... sadly, this reality is not understood"