Ministry of Education Assures School’s Safety

Last updated on May 6th, 2021 at 09:09 am

Parents are worrying about their children’s safety at school, as on 1st July the school semester will start. The Ministry of Education however, has assured families that each school has already prepared safety measures.

Mr. Varavij Kambhu Na Ayudhaya, Advisor to the Minister of Education, said today the ministry has been working with the Department of Health, and has issued guidelines for educational institutions including six health measures. 90 percent of the schools have already implemented the guidelines while the rest are expected to follow before the semester starts.

However, there are still some concerns such as practicing social distancing, because only 31,000 schools can manage to arrange students’ desks 1.5 meters away from each other. This means students in the other 4,500 schools will have to take turns attending classes, and be given supplementary classes online.

Another concern is the length of the semester that has been reduced to 180 days from its original length of 200 days. The ministry has ordered the schools to compensate for the 20 days by providing additional classes or activities in order to allow the students to finish the course. Other concerns that the Ministry of Education has already prepared for, include social distancing when on a school bus, and during afternoon naps for kindergarten groups, along with taking turns to have lunch, and even a criterion that needs to be met, in any change to a school period. In addition the ThaiChana QR code will be used in the school. Meanwhile, schools located near national borders that usually welcome foreign kids from nearby countries, will no longer be able to receive these students without them undergoing 14 days of quarantine in a state quarantine. However, such students can pick up their homework at the border checkpoint and hand it in later.

Related News: https://www.theasianaffairs.com/thailand/2020/06/12/alternate-school-days-in-thailand-to-reduce-students-learning-time/