The current COVID pandemic feels unprecedented, and is indeed unprecedented in many ways. Yet, there have been many instances where schools were shut due to viruses and disease. Those born in the 1990s or earlier will remember the closure of schools in 2003 due to the SARS virus.
However, did you know about the polio epidemic in 1948? Polio is a life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus, and causes paralysis by affecting the spinal cord. Three years after World War 2 ended, the epidemic spread worldwide. Here are some accounts of how the US and New Zealand were affected.
The Rafflesian (Raffles Institution's school magazine) reported on the epidemic. The September 1948 issue described students as being happy at first as the school holidays were extended. Students who were scheduled to take School Certificate classes (probably the equivalent of O levels or A levels) liked the experience of "going to school at home" as they were not under the constant supervision of their teachers. However, when preparing for their final examinations, students generally felt they had been handicapped as "remote learning" was not as efficient. (Imagine trying to learn with the technology back then!) And for once, students hoped they could return to school.
Polio would still continue to strike in subsequent years, for effective vaccines were only developed in the mid-1950s. In 1958, Singapore was one of the first countries in the world to introduce live oral polio vaccinations on a mass scale, though a few polio cases continued to be reported into the 1970s. Interestingly, it was only in 2000 that Singapore was finally declared polio-free.
