Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

A TOTAL of 143,000 students in the final year of Shenzhen’s senior and junior high schools returned to campus yesterday morning, after a long suspension due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic.

All the students tested negative for the novel coronavirus, according to a sznews.com report.

A slew of measures have been taken to ensure the safety of students and faculty and to make sure everything goes smoothly as the city remains vigilant against the epidemic.

All schools require students to wear face masks and go through body temperature checks before entering school premises. Liquid soap and hand sanitizers are placed in public areas for students and faculty to wash their hands.

At the junior high school department of Shenzhen Foreign Languages School, stickers have been placed at entrances as well as on the floor of the school’s cafeteria to guide students on their way to classes and to remind them to practice social distancing when lining up for food.

Desks were set apart to increase the distance between students at Shenzhen Futian Foreign Languages High School.

Many schools across the city have also changed their student dining practices. For example, students were arranged to eat at different times.

Some schools have put a board across the middle of each dining table for added separation and safety while eating, and hooks are in place to allow students to take off their masks, without setting them on the table.

In addition to strict preventative measures, the students’ psychological health is also a key focus for many schools, given that a long period of time online and self-learning has caused various forms of anxiety among students and parents.

“Learning from home requires students to have strong self-discipline. Not every student can adapt to the change from having teachers arrange their daily learning activities to arranging everything themselves. We have already included lessons to provide psychological assistance for students and we will continue doing this,” according to Xu Jingyu, a psychological teacher from Shenzhen Futian Foreign Languages High School.

The reporter found that the lesson schedule on the first day for students from the junior high school department of Shenzhen Foreign Languages School is about studying knowledge of preventative measures and psychological content.

Staff from the school suggested that the content is very important to help students be in a healthy state before resuming their normal studies.

It is said that districts across the city have produced videos introducing epidemic prevention knowledge to students before they return to schools.

“I am very pleased to see classmates and teachers. I think face-to-face teaching is much better than online lessons because I can be more focused and efficient,” said Zhang Yonghang, a ninth grader from Futian Science Middle School.

Zhang said that the school gave them face masks and he was not too worried about infection, considering the school’s prevention measures.

At the same time, the city announced yesterday that students in other years of senior and junior high schools as well as fourth to sixth graders in primary schools will return to campus May 11.

Primary students in other grades will return to campus May 18. Colleges and universities can arrange students in their final year to return to classes after May 11, assuming required conditions are met.

However, the time for the return of kindergartens and special education schools will not be determined until a later date.