Little children need more instructions
CURIOUS hands and minds combined with the excitement of seeing familiar faces again after months apart will make it difficult for early childcare centre staff to ensure that young children stick to social distancing.
These children will need more specific guidance once they are allowed to return to daycare and preschool, said National Early Childhood Intervention Council advisor Dr Amar Singh.
These centres, he said, must take hygiene and safe physical distancing measures seriously as Malaysia and other countries are fighting a long battle – estimated to last at least a year or two – against the Covid-19 virus.
“It would be very difficult to make children maintain social distance.
“Teachers will have to chase the children around to control them, while sanitising their hands on the spot.
“It will be easier with older children as you can explain to them the rationale behind these new measures,” he said, explaining why some parents want to keep their kids home and also why some childcare centres have chosen not to open.
Centre operators must be extra vigilant as children and babies are at high risk of being infected, he added.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, had on May 16, said children and babies have to be protected to ensure that they are not exposed to and infected with Covid-19.
But centres and even the parents themselves, said Dr Amar, do not know what needs to be done to keep these young ones safe.
“That’s why the Council created a detailed guideline with a list of precautionary measures to take for when these centres resume their operations.”
The ‘Standard Operating Procedures (SOP): Post-Lockdown Covid-19 Safety Guidance for Early Childhood Centres’, he said, can also be used for small kindergarwith tens and preschools less than 30 children.
The guideline, however, is not suitable for primary or secondary schools as the number of students is larger, he said.
The 16-page guide is also being used by the Welfare Department in their guidelines for daycare centres, which were allowed to reopen during the conditional movement control order (CMCO).
Among the measures recommended were:
> Conduct health screenings and temperature checks.
> Allocate a space to temporarily isolate students and staff who suddenly become sick, before they are sent home.
> Be specific with instructions so the moment children come to the centre, they know what needs to be done – general instructions like wash your hands and don’t touch things, are not enough.
> Don’t allow the sharing of food, cutlery or personal items such as towels.
> Avoid physical contact such as handshaking, hugging, high-fives and touching.
> Explain to children about the coronavirusoutbreakandwhythe school has changed its operating procedure.
> Put up visuals like posters at the child’s eye level to remind them to practise these preventive steps. > Keep crowds to a minimum at the centre.
> Sanitise all surfaces, toys, learning apparatus, and computer equipment.
> Have shorter but multiple sessions to keep the numbers down in a classroom, and allow for time to sanitise the place, and for teachers to rest and change their masks before continuing with the next batch.
Dr Amar said multiple sessions would decrease the teacher-to-student ratio without increasing manpower and cost.
“No doubt shorter sessions will affect the teaching and learning process but for now, it’s better to have some form of learning happening than not have anything at all.
“The guideline, which is available for free online, is distributed among legal childcare centres because they are part of our network but I’m worried about all the unregistered centres.
“These illegal centres are more likely to be financially-strapped and in a rush to open earlier,” he said.