Education regulator has plan to tackle parents’ school resumption concerns

Parents have the liberty of not sending their children back to school during the early stage of school resumption if they are worried about the potential risk of coronavirus spread. Such absences are to be handled “with flexibility,” the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) recommends.
On Tuesday, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong U, and the Deputy Director of the DSEJ, Kong Chi Meng, announced separately at the Legislative Assembly and in the daily press conference at the Health Bureau (SSM) that non-tertiary education will be resumed no later than April 20.
However, some parents have expressed their concern that a hasty resumption of school might pose a risk to their children.
The DSEJ was questioned on the topic during yesterday’s daily press conference. Wong Kin Mou, head of the Department for Educational Research and Resources, pointed out that the bureau has suggested that educators handle these cases with flexibility.
“If parents feel it is unsafe to send their children to school, as long as they offer reasonable explanation, they can notify the school of their reasoning. We have spoken with schools to encouraged them to allow flexibility,” the department head said.
Before that, he spent nearly five minutes explaining the bureau’s stance.
“When we researched a plan for school resumption, we considered many perspectives,” the department head said.
“The outbreak started in January, and gradually improved in late February. Now we finally see 30-something days without a new case. Furthermore, our neighboring cities in the mainland have seen no new infections for more than 20 days already,” he continued.
“Therefore, we are working in [consideration of] the developments in the situation and have prepared contingencies to determine the date for school resumption. [That’s why] we announced yesterday that we aim to resume school no later than April 20.”
The school resumption date is preliminary and is subject to change should the situation deteriorate. It was announced so that parents can feel secure and less anxious, giving all parties involved sufficient time to plan ahead.
Wong also hinted that the bureau will make further announcements in the coming weeks. “We hope we can offer details on specific arrangements by the end of March, provided that the situation doesn’t deteriorate,” Wong noted. “There is still more than 40 days until our proposed school resumption date, but still we want to allow parents, teachers and schools the time to prepare early.”
He was questioned twice on how students whose parents insist on keeping out of schools will not fall behind their peers attending classes.
The official admitted that during the discussions with schools, the bureau had touched on the topic. Certain “auxiliary measures,” according to the department head, will be in place to help these students. However, he did not explain what these measures will be.
“Apart from schools handling these absences with flexibility, there will also be other auxiliary measures in the hope of supporting students whose parents will not allow them to return to school,” Wong stated.
Previously, a parent had called in to a live radio station show, complaining that the school suspension had run too long. The parent accused the DSEJ of violating the rights to education of local students by overweighting the interests of those residing across the border.
Wong disclosed yesterday that there are 3,000 students, in addition to 300 teachers and staff, currently not in Macau. He hinted that these students should not be the main problem.
“Most of our border-crossing students reside in neighboring Zhuhai and Zhongshan. These two cities have seen more than 20 days clear of new infections already,” the department head said. “Considering this factor, we believe that these students should be clean and safe to return to schools in Macau.”
But then he elaborated that the bureau’s guidelines do not recommend they travel to other places beside their homes and Macau.
“We have recommended that students currently not in Macau return to the city immediately,” Wong reiterated. “If they live in Zhuhai or Zhongshan, they should return to their homes too. As a result, they can have sufficient time to conduct home quarantine before returning to school campuses.”
On specific arrangements to avoid close contact on campus, the department head explained, “In response to the epidemic, we have updated our guidelines. For example, students should not be seated face to face during lunch, because that is considered risky.”
Schools may also consider breaking up meal sessions to avoid students crowding in the canteen, Wong added.
The SSM also announced that it would update its list of highly infected areas. Further announcements will be made in due course.

Facemasks needed until risk eliminated

The general public will still need to wear facemasks for the foreseeable future, unless the global Covid-19 outbreak eases and it no longer poses a significant risk to Macau, Leong Iek Hou, coordinator at the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has said.
Although Macau has recorded zero new infections for more than a month – prompting one Singaporean official to dub Macau’s response as “platinum standard” – the local health authority still considers it too early to relax preventative measures such as the requirement to wear masks.
Leong pointed out that she is unsure how long the current pandemic period will last. Therefore, she thinks it is crucial to keep masks on, “because this is one of the easiest ways to protect oneself.”
Meanwhile, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong U, has assured the public that the government will do its best to source facemasks for the younger population, as schools are set to resume by late April.
“First, some organizations have donated facemasks to education institutions,” the secretary pointed out. “So that schools can have extra ones in case students accidentally damage their masks.”
Ao Ieong said that the government should have sufficient children’s facemasks to cover at least two more rounds of the mask sales scheme. “My colleagues have made a calculation and the number of masks should be enough for the next two to three rounds [of mask distribution],” the secretary disclosed. AL