• Ministry warns lack of support for affected learners could lead to indiscipline and post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Schools will be required to provide guidance and counselling to learners affected emotionally, socially and economically by the pandemic.
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Schools must offer guidance and counselling to learners who have suffered stress or trauma as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Children may feel isolated, abandoned and angry after being at home for so long. They may find regimentation and social distancing in schools frustrating and isolating as well.
Some may have been the victims of emotional, physical or sexual abuse in the seven months since schools were ordered closed in mid-March because of the coronavirus.
The ministry has cautioned that if the affected learners fail to get support, this could lead indiscipline and post-traumatic stress disorder - hence, the need for psychological counselling.
Few schools have psychologists and few teachers are properly equipped to provide support.
“There is a need for psychological therapy to avert these effects to adapt effectively to the new normal,” the recovery plan reads.
The ministry is calling for schools to immediately start strengthening guidance and counselling to aid mental wellness of learners and staff.
Teachers are also required to assist the learners in maintaining health and safety measures. They are to discourage sharing of learning materials, enforce social distancing and insist on mask wearing and hand washing.
When a teacher notes Covid-19 symptoms in a learner, the child is to be isolated in a designated room. Local officials are to notified and the learner is to be picked by a Ministry of Health rapid response team.
The teacher will then inform the family and other learners. The classroom or other room will remain closed and only opened upon being sanitised and disinfected.
Teachers are required to inform anyone who had close contact with the ailing learner to stay at home and self-monitor for symptoms. They are to follow Health ministry guidance.
A teacher who notices that he or she has Covid-19 symptoms must self-isolate, get tested and not return to class until they are free of the virus.
In boarding facilities, school heads must ensure dormitories are not congested and social distancing is observed.
Staff members working in laboratories are not to share PPEs such as lab coats, goggles, gloes and footwear.
All school drivers must ensure learners maintain social distancing and ensure there is anough hand sanitiser or soap and water.
Teachers will require to adopt alternative ways of teaching, keeping distance from learners and teaching outside when possible.
“Students can do the majority of their learning online, coming to the institution only for very specific face-to-face teaching, such as lab or hands-on practical work that cannot be done satisfactorily online,” the plan reads.
In areas with no or poor internet, the government says it will provide mobile lines fitted with devices, power and Wi-Fi to ensure "unlimited quality learning experiences".
Learners will need online monitoring by teachers to ensure security. They are to report any illegal or unusual activity to the teacher in charge.
(Edited by V. Graham)