6 Things government need to do when they finally open school

While coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, many countries have decided to close schools as part of a social distancing policy in order to slow the transmission of the virus.

However, these closure of schools, has affected the education of more than 1.5 billion children and youth worldwide due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In some countries teaching staff there are under instruction to keep social distancing in place between children and, with many school buildings staying closed, some teachers are taking pupils outside and writing with chalk on the playground instead of a blackboard.

While many parents with access to technology and internet are increasingly turning to online education technology to keep their kids learning at home while some may not be able to.

Israel reopened some schools this month but the move was boycotted by several municipalities and many parents who cited poor government preparation.

I have the following suggestions for the government.

1. We can re-visit and temporarily adopt (with relevant modifications) the policy of morning and afternoon session that we adopted in the seventies. This will enable the school owners to cut down on the number of students in each class at a time to ensure social distancing.

2. Government should release a considerable conditional cash relief to all registered private school owners to enhance their capacity to put in place adequate safety measures for their staff and students. These include provision of sufficient PPE’s for teachers and students.

3. Both morning and afternoon assembly should be temporarily suspended.

4. All social activities in schools should be temporarily suspended.

5. Safety measures should be adopted for commercial buses should also apply to school buses.

6. All schools in the country should be provided with effective temperature reader for checking all students as they sign in.”