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Parents debate the pros and cons of resuming classes in person

Updated: 2020-05-08 08:20:49

( China Daily )

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Students from a primary school in Hangzhou wear DIY hats to help enforce social distancing in the classroom. The hats resemble the ancient headwear of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) officials.[Photo provided to China Daily]

While many parents are happy and relieved that their children are finally able to resume classes on campus, many of those with younger children are still anxious about the possible threat of COVID-19 infection.

Students in the final year of senior and junior high schools in Shanghai resumed classes on campus on April 27. All students except those from grades 1 to 3 and kindergartners will resume school by May 18, according the city's education commission.

Parents of younger children who are against the reopening of school have cited such reasons as how their children are too young to be able to take proper care of themselves and how uncomfortable it will be for their children to wear masks throughout the entire duration of school.

"Moreover, all the children take an afternoon nap and have a sports activity for at least an hour in kindergarten. It's difficult to arrange naps and sports if children are requested to wear masks," says Xin Wen, the father of a 6-year-old girl in Shanghai.

Apart from naps, Xin points out that it will be difficult to prevent children from touching their faces.

"Young children will put high pressure on class teachers and caretakers to ensure their personal hygiene despite regular disinfection," he says.

Nie Yilin, the mother of a 5-year-old girl, says enforcing social distancing for younger children will also be difficult.

"It's impossible for children to understand social distancing. When they see their friends at school, they naturally congregate," she says.

Many of those who welcome the reopening of school are parents who have resumed work in the office.

Jin Yuan, the mother of a boy in the third year of primary school and a 4-year-old girl, says she has had to hire a nanny to look after her children since she and her husband returned to work in their offices in late March.

"I believe many parents in similar situations would prefer the reopening of schools and the government should at least give us the option to send children to school when the virus situation has improved," says Jin.

She also says that if only a small number of families want their kids to return to school, there would be little worry about the difficulties involved with enforcing social distancing.

One matter that all parents agree on, however, is that the health and travel history of every person in the school must be thoroughly screened.

Kindergartens in some cities in Southwest China's Sichuan province and East China's Jiangsu province, where there have been no local or imported infection cases for weeks, had already resumed classes in mid-April.

On April 27, following three months of lockdown due to the COVID-19 epidemic, students in grades 1 to 3 in Zhejiang's capital, Hangzhou, were also able to return to campus.

Students at an elementary school in the city made the headlines when they were spotted wearing special hats that would help enforce social distancing in the classroom.

The initiative was deemed as a candid way to kick off the first day of the new semester at Yangzheng Primary School in Hangzhou, the school says.

The DIY hats, which were handmade by students as a school assignment ahead of the school's reopening, bear a striking resemblance to the ancient headwear from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Officials in the 13th century often wore black hats with long wing-like flaps, which were meant to keep assembly members apart, hence preventing them from gossiping with one another.

The school's headmaster, surnamed Hong, told local media that the DIY quarantine hats were a fun way to help classmates keep a safe distance between one another.

"We encourage our students to wear the hats so that they can stay at least 1 meter away from each other," says Hong.


Students from a primary school in Hangzhou wear DIY hats to help enforce social distancing in the classroom. The hats resemble the ancient headwear of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) officials. CHINA DAILY

 

 

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