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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Parents<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>understandably<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>are<\/span><\/span> questioning<\/span><\/span> whether<\/span><\/span> schools<\/span><\/span> will<\/span><\/span>reopen<\/span><\/span> at<\/span><\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/span>the<\/span><\/span> end<\/span><\/span> of \u00a0<\/span><\/span>next<\/span><\/span> month<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>However, common sense dictates that s<\/span><\/span>chools should only be reopened when it is safe for students. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Going back to school will likely look a little different from what <\/span><\/span>parents<\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span>their<\/span><\/span> children<\/span><\/span> were used to before. It\u2019s possible that schools may reopen for a period of time and then a decision may be made to close them again temporarily, depending on the <\/span><\/span>circumstances<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>Due<\/span><\/span> to<\/span><\/span> the<\/span><\/span> evolving situation, authorities will need to be flexible and ready to adapt to ensure the safety of every <\/span><\/span>student<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Even if <\/span><\/span>the<\/span><\/span> authorities<\/span><\/span> have not yet decided to reopen schools, they <\/span><\/span>should<\/span><\/span> have<\/span><\/span> already<\/span><\/span> made<\/span><\/span> detailed planning, to help ensure students, teachers and other staff are safe when they return and <\/span><\/span>parents<\/span><\/span> or<\/span><\/span> guardians<\/span><\/span> are confident in sending their students back to school.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span><\/span>reopening<\/span><\/span> of <\/span><\/span>schools<\/span><\/span> should be consistent with <\/span><\/span>the<\/span><\/span>country\u2019s overall COVID-19 health response to protect students, staff, teachers and their families.<\/span><\/span> Schools<\/span><\/span> can<\/span><\/span> take<\/span><\/span> practical<\/span><\/span>measures<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>such<\/span><\/span> as<\/span><\/span>, s<\/span><\/span>taggering<\/span><\/span> the start and close of the school day<\/span><\/span>; s<\/span><\/span>taggering<\/span><\/span> mealtimes<\/span><\/span> and h<\/span><\/span>olding<\/span><\/span> school in shifts to reduce class size<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Moreover<\/span><\/span>, w<\/span><\/span>ater<\/span><\/span> and hygiene facilities will be a crucial part of schools reopening safely. Administrators should look at opportunities to improve hygiene measures, including handwashing, respiratory etiquette (i.e. coughing and sneezing into the elbow), physical distancing measures<\/span><\/span> and<\/span><\/span> cleaning procedures for facilities. Administrative staff and teachers should also be trained on physical distancing and school hygiene practices.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Students have persisted with their lessons under difficult circumstances, with the support of their dedicated teachers and parents.<\/span><\/span> However<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> many children will need extra support to catch up on their learning<\/span><\/span> when schools reopen.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Many schools <\/span><\/span>might<\/span><\/span> be<\/span><\/span> making plans for catch-up lessons to help bring students back up to speed. This might include starting the year with refresher courses<\/span><\/span> or supplemental assignments to be done at home. Given the possibility that many schools may not open full time or for all grades, schools may implement \u2018blended learning\u2019 models, a mix of classroom instruction and remote education.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>we<\/span><\/span> must<\/span><\/span> r<\/span><\/span>emember<\/span><\/span> that child<\/span><\/span>ren<\/span><\/span> will be dealing with the stress of the ongoing crisis differently from <\/span><\/span>adults<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>So<\/span><\/span>we<\/span><\/span> need<\/span><\/span> to<\/span><\/span> c<\/span><\/span>reate<\/span><\/span> a supportive and nurturing environment and <\/span><\/span>respond positively to questions and expressions of their feelings. <\/span><\/span>We<\/span><\/span> can<\/span><\/span> s<\/span><\/span>how support and let <\/span><\/span>children<\/span><\/span> know that it\u2019s normal to feel frustrated or anxious at times like this.<\/span><\/span> Parents<\/span><\/span> or<\/span><\/span> guardians<\/span><\/span>can<\/span><\/span> h<\/span><\/span>elp<\/span><\/span> children to stick to their routines and make learning playful by incorporating it into everyday activities like cooking, family reading time or games. Another option could be joining a parent or community group to connect with other parents who are going through the same experience to share tips and get support.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Parents, understandably, are questioning whether schools willreopen at \u00a0the end of \u00a0next month. However, common sense dictates that schools should only be reopened when it is safe for students. Going […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3936,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[179],"issuem_issue_categories":[9],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3941"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3941"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3943,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3941\/revisions\/3943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=3941"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=3941"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=3941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}