Ong: No need to suspend school with enhanced measures

Minister allays parents' concerns, says schools may actually be one of the safest places for kids

Above: Farrer Park Primary School pupils taking turns to wash their hands before going for recess yesterday morning. Left: Primary 2 pupils at Farrer Park Primary School recording their temperatures in their books after a temperature-taking exercise
Farrer Park Primary School pupils taking turns to wash their hands before going for recess yesterday morning. ST PHOTOS: KUA CHEE SIONG
Above: Farrer Park Primary School pupils taking turns to wash their hands before going for recess yesterday morning. Left: Primary 2 pupils at Farrer Park Primary School recording their temperatures in their books after a temperature-taking exercise
Primary 2 pupils at Farrer Park Primary School recording their temperatures in their books after a temperature-taking exercise yesterday. ST PHOTOS: KUA CHEE SIONG

There is no need to suspend school, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said last night, after some parents expressed concern about their children's safety as Singapore raised its response to the coronavirus outbreak to code orange.

In fact, with enhanced measures being implemented, schools may actually be one of the safest places for the children.

"Some parents have suggested suspending school. But this is a drastic move that will disrupt life for many families, and it is also not realistic to expect older children to stay home the whole time school is closed," Mr Ong said in a Facebook post last night.

Systemwide, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has implemented enhanced measures including suspending inter-school activities and external activities until the end of the March school holidays.

"This is to reduce the mixing of students across schools and exposure to large crowds at public places," said Mr Ong.

"We have also put in place a stringent hygiene regime, ensuring students and staff practise good personal hygiene, and also social hygiene protocols such as wiping down surfaces after use," he added.

Mr Ong said: "Should there be wide community spread - which we hope will not happen - and given all the measures we have taken, schools may actually be one of the safest places for our students."

"We are calling on our 33,000 educators to make that happen," he added. "We will continue to monitor the situation and do the necessary steps to keep our people safe."

MOE announced the enhanced measures yesterday, the same day the Health Ministry raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition to code orange.

MOE will first enhance its social distancing measures across all its schools, director of schools Liew Wei Li said at a news conference yesterday afternoon.

This means that all external and inter-school activities will be suspended until the end of the March school holidays on March 22.

Hygiene protocols will also be stepped up. In primary schools, teachers will take pupils to the toilet to wash their hands before recess and snack breaks. Secondary school students will be reminded to do the same.

As schools commemorate Total Defence Day next week, a new protocol will also be put in place: Getting students to clean their eating surfaces after their meals.

Earlier in the week, MOE had announced other measures to combat the virus, including suspending large group and communal activities such as assemblies and camps, and staggered recess times.

At Farrer Park Primary School yesterday morning, pupils learnt that masks should be worn only when they are unwell.

This is to prevent germs from being spread to others, they were taught in a character and citizenship education class, during a media visit.

The school's principal Cheong Hwee Khim, 53, said an annual Primary 5 outdoor adventure camp that was slated to begin on Monday was postponed following the announcement of the measures.

Ms Cheong, a teacher during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003, said a lesson drawn from then was the importance of being prepared. Her pupils are used to temperature-taking, with drills done twice a year.

The school now has four recess timings, up from two, she added. "We looked at our timetable to see how we could split the children into different groups. And at the same time, we don't want to disrupt teaching and learning in class."

Of the 622 pupils in the school, just one is on a 14-day leave of absence. This is implemented for those with recent travel history to China.

The teachers check in on him every day.

The school has about 65 teaching and support staff. None is on leave of absence.

Primary 5 pupil Joel Ng, 11, said: "If we all do our part, we can overcome this as a nation, like my teachers said we did for Sars."

Architect Wendy Koh, 39, whose daughter in Primary 4 is in Haig Girls' School, said she is wary of the coronavirus situation, but will let her daughter continue to go to school.

She said the school is doing a good job. For example, it had asked the children to eat in their classrooms during recess, and also advised against playing outside.

"The Government should look at boosting home-based learning options, such as a live stream of classes by teachers, in case the situation worsens," she said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 08, 2020, with the headline Ong: No need to suspend school with enhanced measures. Subscribe