SINGAPORE - Students who need more support for learning will be allowed from next Tuesday (March 29) to remove their masks for selected lessons as Singapore moves to ease Covid-19 measures, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing.
These are children with hearing loss, speech articulation issues, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia, said the Ministry of Health in a statement on Thursday (March 24).
Masks will still be required, for instance, inside classrooms and libraries but not in open-air areas from next Tuesday.
The option of not wearing a mask will apply to pupils and teachers in kindergarten and up to Primary 4 in mainstream primary schools and special education (Sped) schools who have hearing or speech-related developmental needs during language and literacy lessons.
Children in Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens will also have the same option.
Pupils in mainstream primary schools who are in the Learning Support Programme, Mother Tongue Support Programme, and Reading Remediation Programme will also be allowed to remove their masks during lessons, said MOE and the Early Childhood Development Agency in a statement on Thursday.
The option of having masks off will also be offered to government-funded early intervention centres where the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children is held.
The authorities plan to expand the mask-off option to all language and literacy teachers holding classes for children at the Primary 1 and 2 levels in all pre-schools, national schools, madrasahs, and Sped schools.
However, the children will be required to wear a mask in all other indoor settings, including tuition and enrichment centres.
Mr Chan, who spoke at a press conference held by the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19 on Thursday, also said the Singapore Youth Festival will also resume this year.
He added that schools will be encouraged to re-establish and expand overseas connections.
Mr Chan said while blended learning in schools has helped to mitigate the impact on academic learning for students through the pandemic, the MOE is concerned about other aspects of student development.
He said: “We are also concerned with three aspects of our students’ development, their social emotional well-being, language learning and the opportunities to interact with their peers, including those from overseas.
“Going forward, the risk of Covid-19 must be balanced against the risks to the long-term development of our children.”
He added that MOE will adjust its posture and safe management measures to better support the learning needs of students.
Mr Chan said educators have given feedback that masks have posed challenges for teaching students with higher developmental needs, and that mask wearing limits the ability to use important visual and auditory cues.
“The early years are critical for language acquisition. It is important that the learning needs of our students for speech and languages not be compromised. There may be ramifications for the longer term.”
In a Facebook post after the briefing, Mr Chan said with masks on, students are unable to directly observe how complex words are pronounced.
He said: “This is particularly challenging when teaching students a language that is not commonly spoken in their homes, or students with higher learning needs.”
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