• Special reintegration programme in place
• NIMH recommends counselling for children
• Work-to-rule action carried out by teacher-principal TUs

By Sarah Hannan The primary sections of schools finally opened last week, with the Ministry of Education announcing the reopening of 9,155 schools on 25 October. Despite attempts to reopen schools in the first phase the week before having failed, the turnout last Monday (25) alone had been positive, with 97% of the principals, 89% of the teachers, and 45% of the students returning to school. Attendance was gradually improving since, the Ministry of Education stated. As children returned to school in person after nearly eight months, Ministry of Education Additional Secretary School Affairs L.M.D. Dharmasena noted that wearing the school uniform was not compulsory until further notice. He added: “Children would have outgrown their school uniforms and shoes, and given the present economic conditions, many families will not be in a position to afford new uniforms or school shoes. Therefore, we decided to allow children to wear appropriate clothing when attending school.” Moreover, Dharmasena told The Sunday Morning that a special programme was in place to reintegrate the schoolchildren back to the school environment under the theme “To build a happier tomorrow, I return to school”. “After discussing with educationists, child psychologists, and the relevant departments of the ministry and its officials, we have created several psycho-social activities to reintegrate children to the school environment. So, in the first week of school, there would be activities promoting interaction between students rather than starting with subject-related lessons. The objective of these activities is to allow the children to get to know each other through friendly conversations, thus creating an enjoyable atmosphere for the whole class,” Dharmasena elaborated. It is estimated that the time lost due to school closure in 2020 and 2021, from the total time, was 40% and 60%, respectively. In terms of the recovery plan to address the learning loss incurred due to pandemic-related school closure, the National Institute of Education (NIE) worked with the Subject Department to prepare a recovery plan. The especially designed recovery plan for each subject focuses on improving the most essential competency levels of students pertaining to their previous grade to cover 40 days, and the most essential competency levels from the present grade to cover 60 days, making a total of 100 days. For example, the recovery plan developed for grade eight consists of 40% of the most essential competency levels taken from grade seven and the remaining 60% from grade eight. When deciding on the most essential competency levels that should be included in the recovery plan, minimum learning levels that have been identified for each grade have been identified and taken into consideration, and a weekly plan has been prepared to cover those identified minimum learning levels. Accordingly, skill sets for each term (two terms for 2020 and three terms for 2021) will be covered in a span of four weeks each, with skills for the successive terms to be completed by the end of March 2022 for the primary grades of one to five. Counselling for children National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Consultant Psychiatrist Dr. Sajeewana Amarasinghe, speaking to The Sunday Morning, revealed that many children were experiencing depressive episodes/stress since they were home-bound for nearly a year due to the closure of schools owing to Covid-19. “Each child would display different symptoms such as protesting, anger, expressing displeasure, and loss of interest in studies. There is an increase in digital addiction among children, as they are required to use devices to follow lessons, which could contribute towards their depression. While it is practically impossible to keep children completely away from these devices, parents should intervene to limit the time they spend with the screen,” Dr. Amarasinghe explained. He further added: “The child will not be in a mental state to resume lessons as soon as school starts. We need to find out if the children returning to schools are in good mental health. It is imperative to have a formal intervention at the national-level to consider possible measures to improve the child’s mental state after returning to school and enable them to participate in learning.” Dr. Amarasinghe is of the view that a mental health unit should be set up in schools, so that the child can receive the psychological counselling and support they need through the school itself. He said significant changes in children’s behaviour were observed, as children at home were less likely to play and interact than to go to school. Physical and mental health problems due to staying indoors for a longer period of time were observed in children aged 10-16, with some children becoming obese due to lack of exercise and some children becoming inactive and lethargic due to changes in their daily lifestyle and sleep cycles, and also due to them skipping regular meals and wasting time. “Naughtiness and stubbornness of many young children have increased during this period, with some children displaying physical ailments that manifest in connection with a mental illness. In fact, many children complain of unexplained headaches and stomach aches. There are also instances where children are undergoing pandemic anxiety, as they are terrified of Covid-19 and are brought to us with symptoms such as breathing difficulties,” Dr. Amarasinghe elaborated. Work-to-rule launched Although teachers and principals returned to work last Monday to conduct lessons for schoolchildren in primary grades, the Teacher-Principal Trade Union Alliance (TPTUA) decided to launch a work-to-rule action. “We have instructed the teachers and principals, who are members of our trade unions, to only facilitate the teaching process at schools. Until our demands are met and our salary anomaly issue is properly addressed, we will continue alternative trade union actions – that means we will not engage in any other extracurricular activities or additional administrative tasks that the zonal and provincial education offices assign to us,” Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin told The Sunday Morning. Meanwhile, Ceylon Teacher Services Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe stated that demonstrations would be organised at various levels, where teachers, principals, and even parents would participate. “These demonstrations will be carried out in the coming weeks, and we are also discussing with trade union representatives of other industries to support our efforts in strengthening our struggle. While we continue to follow work-to-rule action, we would like to assure parents that we will provide our fullest support to admit students to the A/L (Advanced Level) classes and facilitate the grade one admissions for 2022,” said Jayasinghe. He also reiterated that despite the ongoing trade union action, teachers should work together with the principals to carry out the teaching process at schools between 7.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m., and assist in crucial administrative work such as facilitating school admissions. When The Sunday Morning inquired from Ministry of Education Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera as to when the next phase of school reopening would occur, he stated that it would happen as soon as the necessary clearance is given by the Director General of Health Services. Subsequently, last evening (30), the Education Ministry announced that GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) and A/L classes (grades 10, 11, 12, and 13) in all government schools would resume next Monday (8). Meanwhile, the Director General of Health Services announced that tuition classes for GCE O/L and A/L were allowed to resume from 16 November with 50% of usual capacity of students. Health guidelines for the same would be announced in due course.