Including a total of 15 criteria, the set was made after consulting with United National International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and experts from the Ministry of Health.
Accordingly, educational institutions were requested to prepare necessary facilities, develop plans that are relevant to their condition and location, and sanitise classes and learning equipment before the reopening.
Students, teachers, and teaching staff must have their temperatures checked before entering classes, and must wear face masks and keep a safe distance from each other in class.
The flag raising ceremony and other educational activities are only observed within class. Students are advised not to gather in crowds during break.
In response to the MoET’s guidance, schools prepared thermometers to check temperatures along with soap or sanitiser, and sanitised classrooms. Many of them have piloted to divide each grade and class into two groups in order to ensure safe distance among students.
The educational sector has also worked with localities and functional agencies to provide training and dissemination on COVID-19 prevention and control for teachers and school staff.
Many families and parents have shared helping hands by donating supplies and equipment for epidemic prevention and control for schools while voluntarily joining teachers in sanitising classrooms.
The MoET has taken a range of solutions and measures have been taken to ensure safety for students and preventing the spreading of COVID-19 when students return to school. However, the epidemic prevention and control at schools requires full participation and higher sense of responsibility of every individual, teacher, parent and students.
Therefore, schools should hold that epidemic prevention and control is a regular and long-term task rather than a temporary task after resuming operations. Teachers should educate students on community responsibility, self-protection and prevention from COVID-19.
The safety and health of students at schools will be effectively implemented if each teaching staff, teacher, student and parent is fully aware of their responsibilities and follow the preventive measures against COVID-19.
