• Principals to decide percentage of students to attend school each day
• Parents and teachers urged to be aware of long Covid symptoms: SLCP
• Get all eligible students vaccinated: SLCP
• Protests to continue after school hours: Education TUs

  By Sarah Hannan  Schools across the island will likely see around 70% of its student population return to school tomorrow (8), following last week’s announcement by the Government that grades 10 through 13 would reopen. Accordingly, from tomorrow, primary sections of all schools, and students in grades 10 through 13, will attend school. Despite the daily number of detections having dropped, and related deaths now back at double-digit levels, Covid-19 is still prevalent in the country. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education have urged school authorities and parents to ensure that schoolchildren follow all health guidelines as they return to school. Issuing a circular on reopening schools on 8 November for grades 10 through 13, Ministry of Education Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera stated that all academic staff should be called up for academic work for the corresponding grades. In addition, all non-academic staff members should also be called to work tomorrow. “We have exempted staff members who are pregnant or have children under the age of one from reporting to work in-person. Apart from that, staff members who have illnesses and fall under the vulnerable category should only be asked to report to work when it is absolutely necessary. These staff members will only be excused if they have submitted a request letter with documents confirming the relevant matter to the Zonal Director of Education and obtained approval,” Prof. Perera added. Similar to how primary grade students were exempted from wearing school uniforms during the first few weeks of school, school uniforms will not be mandatory even for students in senior grades. Accordingly, students could come to school wearing appropriate attire, the circular further stated. Safety measures in place The Sunday Morning spoke to Ministry of Education Additional Secretary – School Affairs L.M.D. Dharmasena to inquire about the health protocols that are in place at schools. Responding, Dharmasena stated: “This year’s school start-up plan will be based on three basic plans: pre-preparation to reopen schools, preparing the learning environment according to health and safety guidelines, and preparing the child’s mind to adapt to the learning environment. The health protocols will continue to be in place at schools, where the child’s temperature is checked when they enter the school and adequate handwashing facilities are made available.  “Apart from that, we have also received fund allocation from the Ministry of Finance to set up sick rooms at schools, so if a student displays symptoms of Covid-19, they can be isolated until an ambulance arrives at school. In addition to that, we have given the authority to principals to decide on how they would bring in students to each grade, as maintaining physical distance is imperative. At present, students in the primary classes are asked to come to school on alternating days.” Activities to ensure mental wellbeing Dharmasena also noted that parents, principals, teachers, school development societies, and old pupils’ associations have been very supportive towards setting up necessary facilities for students to follow the health guidelines in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at school. He added: “Although schools have been closed in the recent past, we had received instructions from the Minister of Education a few months ago to start a programme to prepare schools to start as soon as possible. Accordingly, we prepared the relevant plans and acted in accordance with the health recommendations. With the assistance of local health officers and the area police, we have set up health committees as well as steering committees to carry out school maintenance. Special attention will be paid to the school hygiene programme. Therefore, Covid-19 as well as dengue preventive efforts will be discussed and a plan will be formulated and implemented at the local, provincial, and district levels when schools resume.” With prolonged lockdowns and school closures, children and teachers have undergone many stresses and have experienced the passing of family and friends due to Covid-19, a loss in income with parents/spouses losing their jobs, and uncertainty about the future. According to Dharmasena, a special programme is in place to ensure the mental wellbeing of both students and teachers. “As soon as schools reopen, we will not expect children to start on their lessons. Instead, several activities are lined up to help teachers as well as students to acclimatise to the in-person learning environment by getting to know each other by sharing their fond memories of the lockdown. Later on, the teachers can start covering the subjects according to the lesson plans that the Ministry and the National Institute of Education had shared with them,” Dharmasena explained. He also added that, until the syllabus is covered, the schools would not be required to hold term tests, and teachers could instead carry out assessments within the classroom to gauge the child’s aptitude. When we inquired on the date schools would reopen for grades six through nine, Dharmasena noted that discussions were still underway between the health and education authorities on reopening schools for said grades, and that the announcement would be made in due course following their decision. Symptoms after recovery Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP) urged parents and teachers to draw special attention to symptoms of long-Covid/post-Covid syndrome in children. Commenting on the matter, Sri Jayewardenepura University Medical Faculty Professor in Paediatrics and SLCP President-Elect Prof. Guwani Liyanage noted: “The Delta variant of Covid-19 infected more children of school-going age in comparison to other variants of the virus, where children showed more symptoms. Studies at a global level have indicated that at least 10% of the children show post-Covid syndrome symptoms. Therefore, it is important that we are aware of such symptoms. Children that recovered from Covid-19 will display symptoms such as a cough, difficulty in breathing, fatigue, headache, stomachache, joint pains, chest pains, and attention deficiencies, among 200 other symptoms.” According to Dr. Liyanage, children would experience the aforementioned symptoms mildly. However, should symptoms persist and cause the child distress, she recommends seeking medical attention. “Teachers should also keep an eye out for children experiencing these symptoms, as these children would not be keen on taking part in the regular activities in schools. They should pay attention to such students and inform their parents about such incidents, so that if symptoms persist, the parents can take the child to a doctor. The best way to prevent these symptoms from occurring is to safeguard the children from contracting Covid-19. For that, we should diligently follow the health guidelines to prevent Covid-19 from spreading,” Dr. Liyanage explained. She further noted that parents, as well as teachers, should make sure that children follow the correct hand-washing techniques, wear a mask at all times (except for when having meals), maintain physical distance, and, if the child qualifies to be vaccinated in the recommended age category or vulnerability category, immediately get the child inoculated. TU action continues While schools are gradually reopening across the country, the salary anomaly of teachers and principals, along with other requests, are yet to be addressed. The trade union action by the Teachers’ and Principals’ Trade Union Alliance (TPTUA) that started by boycotting online lesson deliveries, has been ongoing for over 115 days. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe stated that strike action continues with the support of parents, while teachers are conducting lessons in schools during the school operating hours. Last Wednesday (3), parents had gathered in front of schools and engaged in demonstrations urging the Government to immediately address the salary anomaly matter and to ensure that the necessary facilities are provided to conduct lessons online. “Despite various threats from entities partial to the Government, local area political figures, and some of the provincial and zonal education directors, parents gathered in front of schools to hold demonstrations in support of our cause. They are protesting to ensure that children are given the right to education and that teacher services are given due recognition and proper pay,” Jayasinghe noted. According to Jayasinghe, the TPTUA had sent a written request to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to take legal action against the local area political figure in Mederigama who had forcefully entered the school and threatened teachers and parents. “We will not consider this as an isolated incident, but as a threat made to the entire teacher and principal population in this country. If the Police fail to take appropriate action against the said political figure, we are ready to take necessary action against it,” Jayasinghe stated. He also added that on Tuesday (9), a strike action will be launched with the assistance of trade unions from other industries, naming the day “a day of national protest”. “We will commence our protest after school hours, as students are at school for the primary section and grades 10 through 13. The protests will take place in front of zonal education offices across the country. The protest for Colombo will take place at the Lipton Roundabout. Although the Government keeps hinting that the salary anomaly will be addressed through the upcoming Budget, we are doubtful they would do so. Keeping that in mind, we will also launch an appropriate trade union action on 12 November, on the day the Budget is proposed,” Jayasinghe concluded.