The Ministry of Education should consider reinstating desk dividers for students having meals in the classroom, the National Federation of Education Unions said yesterday.
Elementary and high schools started the new semester on Aug. 30. New on-campus COVID-19 prevention guidelines, including allowing the teachers and classmates of a confirmed case to continue in-person classes if they test negative, took effect on Monday last week.
According to the ministry’s latest COVID-19 prevention guidelines for schools, students are no longer required to use desk dividers when eating, but they are forbidden from talking during meals.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
Federation president Lin Shuo-chieh (林碩杰) yesterday said the guidelines have made many teachers feel at a loss at what to do during meal times and disinfection afterward.
It is difficult for teachers to stop students from talking during meals, and such a practice could breach the regulations on the guidance and disciplining of students, he said.
The Central Epidemic Command Center and the ministry should provide schools with the funding to purchase desk dividers, he added.
As it is now the peak season for graduation trips, many cities and counties require trip participants to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or produce a negative test result from a rapid test taken within two days, Lin said.
However, the guidelines only say that travel agencies contracted for field trips must follow the Tourism Bureau’s COVID-19 prevention guidelines for group tours, he said.
According to group tour guidelines, travel agencies should “help travelers who test positive seek medical attention and ensure they do not come into contact with other tour members,” but standard operating procedures are not explained, Lin said.
Teachers do not know what to do when a student feels ill or tests positive for COVID-19 at a hotel during a field trip, he said.
“Should the student be left to isolate in a hotel room? Should all the classmates in the same vehicle take a rapid test? Or should the student be sent home in a disease prevention vehicle the next day?” Lin said.
If Taiwan’s COVID-19 situation worsens, field trips could cause more students to become infected, so the ministry should inform local education departments to suspend field trips when required, he said.
The ministry said teachers and classmates are familiar with each other, unlike strangers in a restaurant, so desk dividers are not required.
As for standard operating procedures for graduation trips, the ministry said it has a set of COVID-19 prevention and management guidelines covering educational institutions from preschools to high schools, adding that disease prevention measures for schools are based on the CECC’s latest COVID-19 regulations.
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