Schools re-open during COVID-19

Teachers are reuniting with students as schools reopen this fall. 

The decision to hold indoor classes was based on meetings organized by the Ministry of Education in the summer. Suggestions were offered on how schools should be re-opened while ensuring the safety of the students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Opinions from medical experts and parents were taken into consideration. 

Stephen Fields, the communications coordinator at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, said there were extensive measures taken by the school management including social distancing and hygiene. 

“There is a great emphasis on hand hygiene, making sure that there is hand sanitizer at different locations throughout the facility so that children can sanitize their hands from time to time,” said Fields. 

“They hired additional cleaners to make certain that they are disinfecting high touch surfaces on a more frequent basis than they normally would be cleaned.” 

Fields said in terms of physical distancing, in high schools, classes are typically limited to 15 students.  

Ontario has reported around 453 cases of COVID-19 since schools re-opened. Schools follow local health unit instructions to respond to cases. 

“We have set up temporary classrooms in the gymnasium or common areas so that students are a little bit more spread out,” said Fields. 

Shantti Kumar, who has been serving as a government teacher for 16 years in Chandigarh, India, said schools have reopened in India with restrictions like those in Canada. 

“Schools are not open in the way they were earlier. Classes are being organized through online platforms and the learning process is going that way. Only query sessions are being organized in schools,” said Kumar. 

“Teachers are present in the schools and that too not with full capacity, a roster system is being followed.” 

Kumar said only a few students attend query classes. The provision of sanitization and safety has been ensured by the schools from the entry point to classrooms. Social distancing, wearing masks, hand-sanitization and thermal scanning is a must while taking the query sessions.   

“The students of Grades 9 to 12, not of lower grades, may come at their will with their parents’ written consent and following proper safety measures to have their problems solved by the teachers,” said Kumar. 

But students in Canada have different choices.  

 “A quarter of students are opting for online learning at home. They have the authority to make the decision to do at home or come to school,” said Fields. 

Fields said he has about 20,000 students from which 4,000 elementary students opted for online learning and 1,300 high school students opted for online learning. 

“School management set up everything in a good manner to restart school and continue to study during a pandemic.”