The post-covid era is upon us and there are concerns about a possible school resumption. While some schools have figured alternative methods for learning, at some point we will need to return to a physical school building. How then can we prepare to ensure that children remain safe in school? There are 3 phases when preparing for school resumption:
- Pre-resumption phase
- Resumption phase
- Post resumption phase
Pre-resumption phase
- Thorough cleaning: Every school must undergo thorough cleaning to ensure it is a SAFE space for our children. Your choice of cleaning methodology is highly dependent on the peculiar risks your school has been exposed to during the lockdown. Was it used as a palliative distribution centre or market place? Is your environment susceptible to creeping things? Is there an absence of perimeter fencing which makes it easy for anyone to have accessed the building?
- Staff meeting: Whether physical or virtual, staff must meet with management to discuss how several safety components will function to ensure a SAFE school e.g. handwashing, mask usage, classroom social distancing etc.
- Handwashing plans: Do you have handwashing stations in your school or will you be using sanitizer spots? How will you ensure cross contamination does not happen? You must start to think of how learners and staff will maintain clean hands
- Classroom social distancing: This is the time to rethink your class size and its arrangement. Would you need to alter school schedules in order to prevent overcrowding in class?
- Staff training: All staff must undergo training on the new standard operating procedures. Every single staff both teaching and non-teaching must receive this safety training so they can act correctly on resumption
- Procedure for managing identified cases: Yes, you must have a plan for this with assigned roles and responsibilities. Preparedness ensures that the likelihood of error with damaging consequences is reduced. Don’t just say “God forbid”, create a plan in line with NCDC protocols
- Communication with parents: Parents are wary of sending their children back to school. If they do not have a choice, they will look for a school that has gone the extra mile to ensure child safety. Therefore, communicate with parents on the systems you have put in place. This will boost their confidence in your school.
Resumption phase
Photo credit: BBC News
Here are some points to consider:
- Health/temperature checks: What systems would you put in place to ensure the health of all who come through your school gates? Take note of symptoms of COVID-19 when deciding this.
- Compliance to handwashing/sanitizing plans: You have to monitor that staff and students comply with this new protocol. We must make clean hands a new culture.
- Training of students: Staff who resumed training in the pre-resumption phase must now cascade new knowledge to their students. This training of new school procedures must be delivered in a way that suits the age of the students.
- Assembly protocol: Due to social distancing, school assembly may not suit all schools due to student number and assembly hall. Therefore, we should begin to think of alternative methods to achieve the goals of school assembly.
- Playground supervision: How will you ensure that social distancing is maintained on the playground? Some schools in China are using wings on students to remind them to maintain appropriate distance. Be creative and think of ways that can suit your school’s unique context.
- PPE usage: The right kind of PPE to suit the different age groups must be considered. There must also be monitoring to ensure personal protective equipment (PPE) is used appropriately.
- School bus plan implementation: As you do school bus runs, remember the rules of social distancing. How can you make extra arrangements to cater to the number of students who use this service? Plan ahead.
- New school schedules: If you operate a school with a high number of students in class, to maintain social distancing, you have to rethink your school schedules. Would school occur in batches, morning and afternoon sessions? Or alternate days? Or blended learning? Remember the goal is to ensure that children are not put at risk because they came to school.
Post resumption
Photo credit: WHO
After resumption, it is important to consider the following to ensure continuous safety:
- System to ensure compliance: So you have put together plans in the pre-resumption and resumption phase, you must ensure a system is available to support compliance. This is important to ensure that everyone follows the new procedures that ensure safety.
- Continuous cleaning plans: It is not enough to have done this pre-resumption. This must be a continuous plan because there are commonly touched surfaces and remember we do not want anyone to fall sick because they came to school.
- Continuous screening protocols: This is important because children and teachers will keep interfacing with their communities after school. Therefore, we cannot afford to get tired of screening protocols. It is a continuous process.
- Isolation plans: You must have plans for when a case shows up in school. Stakeholders must be familiar with the plans so that they can take the right action. God forbid is not a plan so we must have isolation plans ahead.
The essence of preparation is because we have been away from our school buildings for long periods and we cannot ascertain its current state even though we locked up. In the VIDEO that birthed this article, I talked about context which puts things in perspective. When you see/read safety measures you are required to use it to suit your unique context. There are schools without windows or perimeter fencing, what they will need in preparation will be different from another school with proper security. So your choice of fumigation and thorough cleaning is heavily dependent on your unique realities. Is your school located at a site susceptible to creeping things, dust, members of the public walking in, used as a market place or a palliative distribution centre during this period? What is paramount is that you are introducing children to a SAFE and CLEAN space.
Preparation is key to ensure overall safety as we begin to countdown towards a possible physical school resumption.
