- Reopening only when all safety measures in place
Schools will be reopened once the outside environment is absolutely safe for children and all the necessary precautions and safety measures are put in place at the schools’ premises, Minister of Education Dullas Alahapperuma stated.
“While the reopening of schools is not likely to happen on 11 May, a decision will be soon made as to when the establishments should be prepared and fitted with necessary instruments to facilitate a safe environment for the staff and children,” the Minister reiterated.
As stated by Alahapperuma, the schools will reopen in the following stages:
- Prior to bringing in the staff or students of the school, the entire premises will be disinfected and be left for about four days for the chemical fumes to clear off from the buildings.
- Necessary facilities will be established for staff and students to wash their hands at the entrance of the school and hand sanitisers can be placed at the entrance of the classrooms.
- Principals, headmasters, and teachers will be required to report to work in the first week and they will have to discuss how the timetables will be managed along with the seating arrangements for the students.
- If necessary, a meeting should be held for parents and school van/bus operators on the safety measures they need to take from the time the child leaves the house until they arrive at school or while they are being transported to school.
- The school can bring in students from Grade 10 upwards. Once the senior students are in, they can be instructed as to how they should disinfect their classroom furniture and school instruments after use on a daily basis.
- The rest of the students can be brought in later on and the senior students could guide them on following the good hygiene habits and keeping their classrooms clean.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) last week published a framework for reopening schools and said that six key dimensions should be used to assess the state of readiness to reopen a selected school: Policy, financing, safe operations, learning, reaching the most marginalised, and ensuring the wellbeing/protection. Policy considerations and financial requirements together create the enabling environment needed to support each of the other dimensions.
