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Govt signals rethink on reopening schools in January
The Ministry of Education is reviewing its decision to open schools in January given the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic.
While previously the government seemed unwilling to budge from its stance on reopening in January, now Ministry Secretary Professor Kapila Perera said talks are being held with the health authorities and a decision will be made next week.
He said the focus is on GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) students who will be sitting their examinations in March 2021.
“We are hopeful of opening up schools as scheduled on January 4,” he said.
The Education Ministry has already postponed its decision to hold exams in early January in order to buy time for O/L students who had not been able to cover their syllabuses due to frequent school closures throughout the year.
A survey carried out last month among teachers of Grade 11 classes found half the schools had not covered the syllabuses.
Prof. Perera said currently only 5,333 schools are open, with many schools being closed in the Western Province and in pockets of other provinces because of the spread of COVID-19.
While accepting that situation did not encourage parents to send their children to school he said the pandemic was only a temporary setback and people had to move on with life.
“If there is a positive case in a school, we close it for two weeks then disinfect the classrooms and resume our studies,” Prof. Perera said.
He said using online learning to resolve the problems caused by school closures was unsuccessful as internet transmission to rural areas had technical difficulties and many children in those areas lacked access to the internet.
“Some parents are positive-thinking and send their children to school. Those who come every day continue to come,” the ministry secretary said.
The ministry is planning to open up school for primary classes by January 4.
“We plan to open up school as a whole, failing which, even opening classes on a staggered basis,” he said.
Teachers unions said the ministry should have a comprehensive plan in place before restarting school.
The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) said opening up schools this term had been a failure with not even 5 per cent of students attending class due to inadequate planning.
“They have to win the confidence of the parents to encourage them to send children to school,” CTU Secretary Joseph Stalin said. “The schools have to be constantly disinfected and all COVID-19 protocols maintained to allay parents’ fear.”