By Sarah Hannan
A week has passed since schools reopened for the second academic term. Following the country resuming its operations that were halted due to the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19, teachers and even students have returned to school.
However, instructions and guidelines to reopen schools in phases, stipulating two different school operating times, have left them quite confused.
Not only the teachers, but parents and school transport service providers too are raising concerns over the guidelines and having different school timings for different grades.
They are of the view that this unnecessarily burdens the child as well as adults who have to ensure they follow the health guidelines when attending school in the current pandemic environment.
Teacher trade unions earlier this week stated that they were dissatisfied with the guidelines issued prior to commencing school last Monday (6).
Ceylon Teachers’ Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin last week raised concerns over the directives issued by the Ministry of Education on work hours for teachers and the extended hours of education for students in Grades 11 and 13.
In response to Stalin’s concerns, Ministry of Education Secretary N.H.M. Chithrananda said: “It is best that the teachers and principals take a call on how they should conduct classes and what regulations the children and staff should follow.”
Parents still in doubt
We also asked some of the parents whether they are prepared to send their children to school, given that the pandemic situation is still prevalent and random cases are being reported from time to time.
R. Hisham, whose daughter is in Grade One, expressed her concerns, stating: “School starts for my daughter on 10 August, and that is just after the election. But the country is also opening up for travellers to visit Sri Lanka.”
Explaining how her daughter has been studying during the lockdown, she said: “Since the lockdown was announced, during weekdays, the class teacher sends us the assignments through the class WhatsApp group and my child is supposed to do the exercises and make a brief video of what she learnt and share it with the teacher via WhatsApp.”
Hisham also noted that when the teacher conducts Zoom lessons, only about 20 out of the 40 children in the class participate in such lessons. So the teacher has to repeat the class to the kids who didn’t participate in that session.
“Since the parents have started working again now, sometimes they are unable to leave their phone or laptop for the child to use for the lessons. This unplanned method of education that was resorted to during lockdown has actually created a big gap in learning for children,” she added.
Another parent, C. Sekar, shared: “I am not sure whether I want to send my son, who is in Grade Four, to school on 27 July with the election happening on 5 August. There is a rumour that the Government will re-impose the lockdown after the election and also that schools are to conduct a hybrid class system, where they would be allowing half the class to physically attend while the rest is to follow the sessions through Zoom.”
A fresh circular issued
The Ministry of Education last Tuesday (7) issued a fresh circular to all the provincial chief secretaries, provincial education secretaries, provincial education directors, regional education directors, teachers, and principals with further instructions related to the arrival and departure times of students as well as academic and non-academic staff belonging to government schools and government-approved private schools, as the schools reopen in four phases as communicated previously.
The circular indicated that the teachers who have been given class schedules for the corresponding days are responsible for management and administration, maintaining discipline, and attending to health guidelines when reporting to work.
Only teachers and students who have been given a teaching schedule and have been instructed to attend school should be allowed into the school premises in order to enable physical distancing and avoid unnecessary crowding at schools.
The principal is responsible for permitting teachers to arrive at school just half an hour before their teaching schedules commence and should permit them to leave the school premises once their teaching schedule for the day is completed (i.e. if a teacher’s teaching schedule for the day starts from 12.30 p.m., the teacher will only be required to report to work half an hour before the teaching schedule at 12 noon. If the teacher’s schedule ends at 1.30 p.m., they are not required to stay on till 3.30 p.m.)
While from the third phase onwards, commencing 27 July, all teachers are required to report to work by 7.30 a.m. and sign in and sign out as usual as per their given teaching schedules, they will then be required to work till 1.30 p.m., and whoever is scheduled to conduct classes beyond 1.30 p.m. till 3.30 p.m. will be able to do so.
Teacher service exploited
Despite the revised instructions, there have been reports that certain schools have misinterpreted the instructions and requested all the academic staff to report to work by 7.30 a.m. and remain at school till 3.30 p.m.
A teacher attached to a state-run girls-only school in Colombo 12, under strict confidentiality, shared her personal experience with The Sunday Morning.
“We have been asked to report to work throughout the week, and whether we have a teaching schedule or not, we are required to be at school from 7.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Even during the week, during which we were to draw up class schedules and plan out how students and teachers would be arriving and departing, no such discussion took place.”
The school’s academic staff includes 49 teachers and as she informed The Sunday Morning, all 49 have been reporting to work since 29 June. The principal of the school has disregarded the instructions issued by the Ministry of Education in the earlier circular pertaining to drawing up schedules for a teacher to conduct studies after 1.30 p.m. up until 3.30 p.m. for one or two days per week.
“Although the circular has stipulated that a teacher should be at the school premises half an hour before the subject period commences and is allowed to leave after the day’s teaching has ended, our principal has imposed a regulation that all 49 teachers should be at school by 7.30 a.m. and are only permitted to leave at 3.30 p.m.”
She also noted that the principal has demanded that each day, 10 teachers are to conduct health screening procedures on students, whereas they are actually required to take the temperature readings of the students as they walk into the school. The school, while equipped with adequate handheld digital thermometers, only has two personal protective equipment (PPE) kits.
“The principal has asked the teachers to share the two kits, which is not acceptable at all. Also, we do not have a facility to even change in and out of these kits, and if we are to wear the kit over our sarees and do the screening, we are sure to sweat excessively.
“We are then required to continue with our day’s work. If there are guidelines that should be followed, adequate facilities too need to be provided. Also, the school and the Ministry of Education need to see whether certain steps can be practically implemented in a real-life situation.”
School transport services
“Our association took a decision that we would provide transport for children who are ready to go to school. While we are going to incur a loss by doing so, we cannot let children miss school because the authorities cannot arrive at a practical solution,” All-Island District School Children Transport Association Secretary Kamal Ilangaratne told The Sunday Morning.
Several school transport service providers have decided they will not be providing transport for children as schools reopened for the second academic term, since they could not agree to the different school ending times and also don’t have sufficient children to transport to school.
Ilangaratne noted that although the transport service is only bringing in the relevant students from each grade for which schools have reopened, they will have to charge all the children, regardless of whether they attend school or not, as the seats in the vehicle cannot be allocated to other students.
He added that when school finishes at two different times, it is a challenge to provide transport for children in schools and that the Ministry should allow for children to be transported while limiting the number of children to the number of seats in the vehicle.
Facemask usage for students
Schoolchildren are now asked to bring two disposable masks or one reusable mask along with a case to retain it when removed. Schoolchildren are to wear the face mask on their way to and from school, the Health Promotion Bureau revealed.
Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Anil Jasinghe, clarifying the matter, noted: “The kids will have to wear a facemask when taking the bus or school van to school as they will be seated in close quarters with other children or passengers. They are to either dispose of the mask or store the reusable mask in its case when entering school.”
While within the school premises, school kids are not required to wear the facemask, they are to maintain physical distance from one another, wash hands or sanitise as required, and are required to bring in their own meals as sharing meals would not be recommended.
Prior to leaving the school premises, the kids are required to put on their reusable mask or the second disposable facemask they bring with them.
“Considering the discomfort and possible breathing difficulties children would face, we have agreed that they do not have to wear the facemask during school time. However, they should follow the rest of the health guidelines that will be communicated to them by the school,” Dr. Jasinghe added.
While these are the general guidelines schoolchildren will have to adhere to, some schools have decided that children will wear facemasks at all times and will only be allowed to remove it when consuming food during the interval.
Teachers are requested to educate the kids on the guidelines that should be followed when schools reopen for students.