Chair of the National Strategic Group on COVID-19, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal (right); and Adviser to the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Mohamad Al Bashri, addressing a press conference on Qatar TV, yesterday.
Doha: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has announced that from the next week, parents will be given options of either continuing with blended learning or switching to only distance learning completely for their children.
“The Ministry has decided to continue the blended learning with 30 percent attendance of students in classrooms following the protocol of preventive and precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19,” said Adviser to the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Mohamad Al Bashri, while addressing a press conference on Qatar TV yesterday.
Al Bashri who also holds position of Director of Public Relations and Communications at the Ministry said that the decision is based on daily evaluation of the blended learning system since schools’ reopening on September 1, 2020, and in direct coordination with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).
“The parents should take final decisions whether they want to continue with blended learning or opt to only distance learning, because it is difficult to switch from one way of learning to another due to a lot of engagements like arrangement of transportation, health and safety department at the Ministry and handling schedule of attendance,” said Al Bashri.
He said the attendance or absence of students will be counted in blended learning or distance learning to ensure students are taking the lessons in schools or homes, while the presence of students will be mandatory for examinations.
“Under blended learning, the students are required to attend the schools from 1 to 3 days at maximum. Distance learning does not require in-person attendance at schools,” said Al Bashri. “The school environment is more safer. The cases of infection which were detected in some schools and classrooms took place out of the schools.”
He said that 1.5 percent schools were closed out of the total government and private schools operating in the country because of COVID-19, and 1.6 percent classrooms were closed in government and private schools.
“The student attendance ranged between 60 to 80 percent in the schools. However, the attendance was non-mandatory during first two weeks of the new academic year 2020-21.”
He said there is strict monitoring to ensure the implementation of all preventive and precautionary measures and health conditions in schools on a daily basis.
Mohamad Al Bashri said 642 field visits have been made so far to check schools’s preparedness to receive students.
The visits have been intensified to three times the regular rate of visits, said Al Bashri.
He said that as per the COVID-19 protocol for schools, it is recommended to suspend teaching in classrooms or in school if cases of infection increase.
He called on residents to refer to reliable sources and neglect rumours.
Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, Chair of the National Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation said the infection rate among teachers and students is still limited after two weeks of studies.
“Our track and trace teams have found that these positive cases did not catch the virus when attending schools. They caught the virus mainly at home during social gatherings,” he added.
Speaking at the press conference yesterday on Qatar TV regarding the latest COVID-19 developments in the country, Al Khal said:
“Qatar passed the peak of this pandemic at the start of June, but it witnessed small and weaker waves between Qataris and professional residents.”
About schools, he said that some classrooms were closed and some schools were suspended, after recording a number of cases among students and teachers.
Al Khal pointed out: “All teachers in public and private schools were tested before the start of the study, and less than 2 percent of them showed infection. Out of more than 350,000 students and over 35,000 teachers in Qatar, less than 0.2 percent have tested positive since schools reopened.”
Dr, Al Khal noted: “Nearly 90 percent of these small and weaker waves originate from the transmission of the virus between families through one of their members due to family gatherings.”
Efforts by the MoPH will not succeed without the cooperation of all individuals, he said, adding that Qatar is among the countries that have conducted more tests.
He said that the phased approach to reopening public places is working well. “If people adhere to the preventive measures and follow the official advice, we can safety return to normal life.
The same is true for the opening of schools; as long as people adhere to the preventive measures the risk of contracting COVID-19 is very small.”
