COVID-19 has impacted the world’s usual activities. Even in 2021, a large workforce is working from home, there is a restriction on movement and gathering in public spaces, and many other things. The education sector is one of the many industries that have been greatly affected, with many countries shutting down education centres.
Children were forced to stay home despite the need to be in school. The move to shut down schools meant an alteration of the regular academic calendar. However, most countries have come up with ways to deal with the pandemic, and a lot of them are opening the learning centres.
The decision to open schools has met with a lot of mixed reactions from parents. As much as parents need their children to acquire primary education, they cannot help but fear for their children’s safety. Keeping in mind that the cure for the Coronavirus is still unknown, many parents are reluctant to send their children back to school. The fear of children contracting the illness is evident among most parents.
However, the regular life routine must take effect as it is unknown when a cure will be discovered, and sending back children to school is a step towards that direction. Parents ought to be vigilant in ensuring their children’s safety before sending them back to school. Before sending their children back to school, parents should consider the following:
1. The School Attendance Options
Most primary schools in Noida offer learners either physical class attendance or virtual classes. Physical attendance refers to a child being physically present in the school, while virtual attendance refers to children attending courses from their home’s comfort.
The move is to ensure that children’s learning continues, and there is no significant negative impact on the school calendars. The school’s closure meant that learners had to be retained in the current grades; therefore, no new admissions.
As a parent, you should consider what option you are most comfortable with, keeping in mind your child’s health and allowing your child to continue with the studies.
2. Your Child’s Health
COVID-19 is a dangerous disease. Although some people are recovering from the illness, it poses a lot of danger to people with terminal illnesses or low body immunity. Before deciding to enrol your child back to school, you should check with a health expert on your child’s immunity. You do not want to expose your child to the illness if they have low body immunity.
It would help if you considered a health specialist’s advice despite your desire to send your child back to school. If the specialist warns against it, you should consider the school’s attendance options.
3. The School Preparedness
Is the school ready to accommodate students? Has the school put in place the government measures to ensure curbing the spread of the Coronavirus? If the school only offers physical school attendance, you should check to ensure that the school follows the government directives.
Some measures schools ought to put in place include:
● Ensure social distancing – The school should ensure that learners maintain the required physical distance. To maintain social distance among students, schools should provide adequate classrooms to accommodate all learners while maintaining. But what happens if there are many students and it is impossible to maintain social distance? To solve this problem, schools should implement shifts, where some learners attend schools in the morning while others in the afternoon.
● Cleanliness – COVID-19 is spreading mainly through touching contaminated surfaces; therefore, schools ought to clean and disinfect surfaces regularly to curb the disease’s spread. Schools should also provide learners with adequate water and soap, or hand-sanitizers to ensure that learners wash their hands regularly.
● Regular screening – Schools should screen students every day to check for possible infections. Schools could also do regular temperature checks on the students as this will help discover any risk symptoms.
● Mask wearing – Schools should ensure that every student is wearing a mask, whether inside or outside the class. Masks help reduce the spread of germs.
● Educating learners – Students need to be taught and regularly reminded of the importance of wearing masks, maintaining social distance, washing hands, and not touching their faces. Also, they need to be educated on the various signs and symptoms of the Coronavirus to be alert if anyone develops the symptoms.
● Avail of emergency measures – What happens if a student develops the signs of the disease? Schools should have an emergency room to quarantine anyone who develops the symptoms and a health expert ready to attend to emergency issues.
Therefore, as a parent, you need to ensure that a school has put all these measures to ensure your child’s safety.
4. Your Health Plan
Do you have an emergency health cover for yourself and your child? Do you have health insurance?
You must be ready for everything. For instance, if your child is diagnosed with the illness, you need to have an already-prepared means to cater to any arising medical bills. When it comes to your child’s health, it is wise to give your child the best medical attention.
Therefore as you send your child back to school, ensure that you have a health plan in place to get the best medication, even as you hope and pray that no harm befalls your child.
5. The Government Directives
Last but not the least, follow the measures set by the government to ensure your child’s safety. Most heads of the states are devoted to ensuring mitigation of the spread of the coronavirus. Hence, parents should follow the set rules and regulations.
No one can guarantee the safety of a child better than a parent. Therefore, every parent’s responsibility is to ensure that their children stay safe, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the preparedness of Noida school and your child’s health will ensure your child’s safety even as you send them back to school. If your child is studying in a primary school in Noida, check out the school’s website to see if the rules are being implemented.
Bhawna Bhatia
I am Bhawna Bhatia and I am a passionate and hardworking teacher.Having an experience of 16 years, I believe in teaching from my heart and being a leader to my students. I want to show them that teaching them brings me joy and happiness to my role. Being able to be the leader they look up to, who believes in their educational journey. I believe that each student brings different experiences and strengths to the classroom. My hope is that I can support and appropriately challenge students to help them reach their full potential.
