AMMAN — Some students and parents have shared
concerns about children returning to school after eight cases of COVID-19 were
recorded among students attending Jordan’s remedial program.
اضافة اعلان
The Secretary-General of the Ministry of
Education for Administrative and Financial Affairs Najwa Qubailat announced on
Sunday that eight students in the remedial education program had caught
COVID-19. Students are slated to return to in-class learning on September 1.
Mahmoud Sawair, a father, told
Jordan News that "I was excited that my children are getting back to classroom
learning especially since I believe that classroom learning gives students a
feeling of seriousness."
"But after I heard that eight students were
infected with corona just after a few days of going to schools … I have started
to feel afraid and nervous," he said.
Sawair further stated: "This is a bad
sign that gives an indication of what could happen in the next days. I always
teach my children how to behave in these hard circumstances, how to sanitize
every now and then, not to shake hands with their friends, and of course to
keep their masks on all the time."
However, he added that in the end they are
children and you cannot always guarantee that they will remain safe and healthy.
Likewise, Lamia Hisham, a mother told
Jordan
News that "I have felt afraid and worried since I have first heard
that students will go back to classroom learning in September."
Hisham added that her children were doing
well with distance learning and that she would dedicate time to support them
and make sure they did not miss anything.
"Recording 8 new cases among students is
not news that we should ignore," she said. "The government should
either raise awareness among students and teaching staff, or tighten measures
taken to ensure everyone is safe."
An official source at the Ministry of
Education told
Jordan News that people "must be confident that the
epidemiological situation allows us to take such a decision."
The official added that thousands of students
registered and attended the country’s remedial education program and only eight
students caught COVID-19.
The Ministry of Health has previously stated
that to return to distance learning would require 10 percent of a single
school’s students to catch COVID cases.
"We
are working together with the Ministry of Health, and all our decisions are
based on scientific studies and aim to preserve student’s health,” the source
said. “Their safety is a priority for us, and whenever we feel that classroom learning
could put them in danger we will take immediate decision to protect them and
the whole situation will differ then."
The source added that schools will ask
students to take random PCR tests every now and then.
"We believe that everyone should work
with us hand in hand to guarantee that students are safe so we highly recommend
that students themselves, teaching staff, and even parents should take the
vaccine," he said.
Qubailat told local media on Sunday that
"The
Ministry of Education has conducted, as of Thursday evening, about
10,884 rapid random examinations on students, of which 14 were positive, and
were transferred to the Ministry of Health for a PCR examination, and it was
found that only eight of them were infected."
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