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SINGAPORE: The two groups of COVID-19 families identified in recent days are a “sobering reminder of how easy it is to break up the clumps,” Education Minister Lawrence Wong said on Tuesday (January 4).
Speaking to reporters at Waterway Primary School in Punggol, he said it is a reminder that the pandemic continues and that all necessary precautions must be taken.
Two Raffles Girls School (RGS) students were part of a reported family group in the past week. The first student is a family member of a marine surveyor at Lloyd’s Register Singapore who tested positive for COVID-19 on December 29.
The first student was confirmed to have the coronavirus on December 31.
The second RGS student visited her schoolmate at her home for a few hours on December 27 when the marine surveyor was present. She was identified as a close contact and quarantined after the surveyor tested positive.
After she developed a fever, she was taken to the hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19 on December 31.
Education Minister Lawrence Wong greets P1 students at Waterway Elementary School on Monday (January 4). (Photo: Ang Hwee Min)
“Fortunately, this happened during school holidays, so the contacts between students and friends were quite limited. I think that if it had happened in a different circumstance and they had a lot of contact and intermixing, we might as well have had a larger group,” said the Monday Wong, co-chair of the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force.
“It is once again a reminder to all of us that the pandemic continues, the virus continues to circulate and we must take all necessary precautions. That will be our priority, it continues to be … even in Phase 3 we maintain all necessary safe management measures in all of our schools. ”
Approximately 3,500 students from Kindergarten 1 and 40,000 students from Primary 1 in Singapore showed up to school on Monday for its first day of the academic year.
The Ministry of Education previously announced that students from Kindergarten 2 and Primary 2 to Primary 6 would report to school on Tuesday. High schools and special education schools also began the academic year on Monday, while high schools and the Millennia Institute will begin on January 11.
This “special arrangement” was made so that teachers can focus on students entering school for the first time, and also interact with parents with the COVID-19 safe handling measures in place.
“Because these are students entering school for the first time, understandably they are quite anxious and so are their parents, (as) there are new safe driving measures that are needed,” he added.
“I think it’s a good arrangement and from what I’ve seen so far it’s working well.”
READ: K2 and Elementary 2-6 students will be staying home on the first day of the new school year: MOE
When the students entered Waterway Elementary School with their parents starting at 7 am, the teachers greeted them and took their temperatures at the school gate. There were also several stations to take the temperature, spaced for safe distancing, to ensure there were no queues or crowding at the door.
Students and parents take their temperatures prior to entering Waterway Elementary School on Monday morning. (Photo: Ang Hwee Min)
After entering the school, they proceeded to register through SafeEntry in the school lobby. Students and their parents who arrived early were taken to the lunchroom, where they sat at the designated tables for each class.
The teachers led the students to their respective classrooms, where they sat at desks that were individually distributed throughout the classroom to ensure a safe distance. Parents were directed to another classroom to speak with their children’s teachers.
Unlike in previous years, parents were unable to observe the first lessons or closely follow their children as their first day of school unfolded. Instead, they had the opportunity to meet and interact with their children’s form teacher on the first day, said Waterway Elementary School principal Wee-Kwan Liam.
The school welcomed about 280 P1 students and 160 K1 students on Monday, he added.
Education Minister Lawrence Wong interacting with P1 students at Waterway Elementary School on Monday (January 4). (Photo: Ang Hwee Min)
“Incorporating children from Primary 1 and Kindergarten in some way is not different from other years, because … it is about them settling in and adapting to a larger environment, with more children in the classroom and a routine more structured, “said Ms Tiny.
“What is additional this year are the security management measures. The basic focus is on personal hygiene, personal responsibility and social responsibility.
“So in a way, they are not entirely new because the kindergarteners entering our Primary 1 are familiar, and the kindergarten children, having seen all of this in public, are also.”
Mr. Wong added: “These (security measures) are basic, but I think they have been effective measures over the past year, we have been able to keep our schools out of COVID-19 and keep classrooms, keep learning, we will continue to keep all these measures “.
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