CONCERNS have been raised over the health and safety of schoolchildren ahead of the new academic year expected to start in the next few weeks.
The Education Ministry announced an operational strategy under the Covid-19 Alert Level Traffic Light System, whereby all educational institutions will resort to remote learning if the country is on Red Level.
Parents have been given the choice to send their children back to school or receive online education under Orange, Yellow and Green levels.
Attendance should not exceed 30 per cent in Orange and 50pc in Yellow of the total capacity while it can be 100pc in Green.
Distancing
Social distancing of at least one metre is applicable in Orange and Yellow levels and half-a-metre in Green. Bahrain is currently under the Yellow level and is set to go Green on September 3.
However, MPs are worried about hygiene, sanitisation, lengthy class hours and food breaks, amongst other issues, due to the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
To address the concerns, Parliament services committee chairman Ahmed Al Ansari has submitted a request to Parliament Speaker Fouzia Zainal to arrange a meeting with Education Ministry officials.
He has also urged his colleagues to forward their questions for the urgent meeting expected this week.
“We are speaking about children aged seven to 17 who might attend in-person classes and would be forced to wear face masks from 7am to 2pm, even when going to the toilet,” said Mr Al Ansari.
“The ministry needs to clarify hygiene and cleanliness guidelines for classrooms, toilets, buildings and other facilities; how would sanitisation be conducted during the day?
“There is also an issue with seating arrangements in buses and canteens.
“We need assurances that there is a proper strategy to protect students’ health and safety at all times.”
The veteran parliamentarian said several parents wanted to send their children back to school, but the short notice also meant that uniforms would not be ready in time.
“No tailoring shop is ready to deliver uniforms in 10 days; it takes at least a month to get them ready.”
He added that for students opting for online education, the ministry has to ensure that the education portal does not keep crashing.
Attendance
Parliament public utilities and environment affairs committee chairman Mohammed Buhamood said attendance in schools should be restricted to vaccinated students.
“We have a huge portion of children aged 12 to 17 who are already vaccinated so they are ready to return to school.
“Registration has opened for children aged three to 11 to be inoculated and it would make sense not to allow these students back in schools until they are fully vaccinated.
“If one student infects the entire school how does the ministry or the National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus planning to deal with it?”
mohammed@gdn.com.bh
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