Thailand’s Prayut urges schools to follow Covid-19 measures

Ahead of the upcoming new school semester, Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday called on schools to follow so-called ‘6-6-7’ safety measures for Covid-19. The first six measures of the plan include well known precautions such as social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, and temperature checks. The next six measures include school check-in and check-out, surveys and examinations, and self-quarantine.

The next seven measures include strict practices such as doing activities in small groups, and preparing ‘sealed routes’ for students travelling to school. Schools must also constantly report to the Ministry of Education’s ‘MOE COVID’ app.

Last month, Thailand’s secretary-general of the Office of the Basic Education Commission said students “must” start school in-person on May 15. He admitted that online learning in Thailand has weakened students’ reading and writing skills. To counter students’ decline in these skills, the OBEC plans to teach literacy and numeracy for students in grades 1, 2, and 3, instead of focusing on all subjects normally taught in Thai schools.

An online survey conducted in February found that 66.8% of parents doubt how effective learning is effective for their children. 55.5% say they have little confidence in it being effective. 11.3% said they’re not confident about online learning’s effectiveness at all. Only 6.1% of parents said they were very confident, with 27% reporting feeling “fairly” confident. The survey questioned 1,089 parents across Thailand. The university that conducted the survey is Suan Dusit Rajabhat University in Bangkok.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News