Minimise schoolchildren’s anxiety

WHILE thoroughly preventing children from being infected, it is also necessary to provide an adequate study environment. It can be said that people in the education field are tasked with a tough challenge.

The governments of Tokyo and Osaka prefecture will extend the period of closures for schools such as high schools and integrated junior high and high schools until May 6, the last day of the upcoming long holiday. The decision was made after many people were being confirmed to have the new coronavirus on a daily basis.

In many cases, high school students use public transportation such as trains and buses to go to school. Extending the duration for school closures apparently aims at mitigating the risk of infection as much as possible.

The metropolitan government has asked public elementary and junior high schools to take similar measures. A multitude of ward boards of education are expected to act on the request.

One month has passed since the blanket introduction of school closures. Children have been placed under stress by not seeing friends and having fewer opportunities for play. Their daily rhythm is probably being disturbed.

There must be children who have been considerably shocked by the decision to continue school closures, because they had expected to be able to go to school at the beginning of the new school term.

Above all, April is a season that has important meaning for school students as it marks the beginning of a new school year. First-year students need to get used to a new environment and classmates. It is also a time for new classes and immediately follows a large-scale relocation of teachers.

It is indispensable to work on measures to minimise anxiet y among children.

Public elementary and junior high schools in Setagaya ward, Tokyo, which have been closed, will designate dates for attendance every three days, splitting children by grade to offer them study guidance. Measures for preventing infection will be taken, such as reducing their time at school to half-days and placing them into smaller classes.

Through these efforts to preserve school life, it is hoped children can become familiar with a new school environment even just a bit.

There is a lso concern over the curriculum lagging behind schedule due to the continuation of school closures. Third-year students at high and junior high schools – preparing to ta ke entrance exams for universit y and high school – must be worried about t he situation. It is important to support home learning t hrough ef forts including giv ing assignments with study goals and utilising online study materia ls.

Each school is required to rev ise its annual curriculum and reschedule events. One of t he options will be managing to secure class hours by curtailing long summer holidays and t he like.

Boards of education and schools are urged to present a future course to t he extent t hat is possible, t hus easing the anxiousness of parents and children.

As t he domestic sit uat ion of infect ions va r ies f rom reg ion to reg ion, not a few municipa lit ies where fewer infected pat ients have been found pla n to resume school in Apri l. When it comes to resta r ting classes, chi ld ren should receive f ir m i nst r uct ions i ncluding ta k ing t heir temperature ever y day a nd washing t heir hands f requent ly.