Although the health sector has had guidelines on treating students with Covid-19, schools are still confused about handling the cases.

Until today, Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thao, a parent of a third-grader in Hong Ha Primary School in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District, has asked for work leave to stay at home with her child. Because one of her classmates of her child has been infected with the coronavirus, students of the class had to switch to online teaching.

She revealed that her child went to school on February 15, and the next day, the homeroom teacher announced that students must learn on the internet because of the Covid-19 case. Parents are waiting for the next announcement from the school, Thao said.

A day earlier, Mr. Minh Nhat, a parent of a third-grader at Bong Sao Primary School in District 8, also received a notice to monitor his child’s health because one of the classmates has had coronavirus. Although all students in the class were tested quickly having negative results, they were required to isolate at home for 14 days.

Meanwhile, T.H. Primary School in District 3 has had a different solution after detecting the case of Covid-19. Specifically, the school sent a notice to all parents of the class with the infected student, asking parents to quickly test Covid-19 for their children and send the results to the homeroom teacher.

After receiving negative test results from all students in the class, all students still went to the school as usual, but they took the first semester test three days earlier than scheduled.

However, the school planned that if two or more students are found to be infected with the coronavirus in a class, all students in the class will return to online learning and monitor their health at home for 14 days. This is also the method being applied by many schools.

Ms. Do Ngoc Chi, Principal of Nguyen Binh Khiem Primary School in District 1, said that the school has flexible solutions for learning plans in detecting the Covid-19 case. Specifically, when detecting that a student is infected with the coronavirus, the school will investigate the student’s contact history with other students in the class or other classes.

Students who have had close contact with infected students will be required to isolate at home to monitor their health and switch to online teaching. If any parent wishes online learning, the school will guide them the self-study method at home. Conversely, if the parents all agree, the remaining students will still attend direct learning in schools.

Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training Duong Tri Dung said that only health authorities can announce who is infected with Covid-19.

However, at some schools, when detecting a case of a student suspected of having Covid-19, schools immediately contact health centers in districts that said that healthcare workers are overloaded with work, forcing schools to carry out disinfection.

A principal of an elementary school in District 3 proposed a flexible solution that schools are allowed to sign contracts with private medical facilities to help schools in testing students with Covid-19.

Worse, several schools are still facing teacher shortages because many teachers have Covid-19. Currently, teachers' workload has increased by 2-3 times compared to normal teaching due to both teaching face-to-face in class and teaching online for students who are self-studying at home.

Head of the Department of Education and Training’s Political and Ideological Division Trinh Duy Trong informed that the Department of Education and Training and the Department of Health will coordinate to issue new regulations on handling Covid-19 students. For effective implementation, schools need to coordinate with health authorities and students' parents in detecting cases of Covid-19.

Source: SGGP

Covid-19 stokes parental concerns after schools reopen in Hanoi

School authorities and parents in Hanoi are worried about the rising number of Covid-19 infections among students and teachers.