THE Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau on Tuesday released a guide on PE lessons amid the COVID-19 epidemic to ensure the safety of physical education (PE) and sports activities after students return to schools.

The guidance said that schools can arrange students to attend PE lessons in different groups and at different times and places.

The places can be outdoor points or sports venues that provide adequate ventilation.

Students don’t have to wear face masks when doing exercises outside or at sports venues, but should keep a distance of at least 2 meters from others.

Venues and sports equipment should be disinfected and checked before use.

Suggested physical education is targeted as contact-less fitness training and aerobic exercise that can be done independently by students to avoid group cooperation and touching of others.

Face-to-face interaction should be avoided when teachers are giving lessons. Additionally, teachers should keep a distance of at least 2 meters from students when providing training and guidance.

Small and medium amounts of exercise is the ideal amount of exercise to be used at this early stage and to increase later when students get a full recovery of their physical agility.

If feeling unwell during workouts, students should report to teachers immediately, according to the guidance.

Warm-up, stretching and hand washing are recommended before and after each workout.

It is suggested in the guidance that schools should arrange one-hour exercise for students each day and cannot completely suspend all sports activities on campus.

Students in their final year of senior and junior high schools should be given priority to use campus sports venues during holidays.

Students should incorporate daily exercises at home and finish workout contents set by teachers to form healthy habits.

PE teachers should have knowledge about the students’ exercise situation at home before designing teaching plans.

Teachers should also keep an eye on students’ body reaction to the physical intensity of activity and be ready to immediately respond in the event of emergency.

Dates for the PE test of the high school entrance exam will be postponed to June 10 and June 25 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to information released by the municipal education bureau.

The PE test includes two subjects. Different to rules last year that only allow students to choose one of the subjects they are good at for the test, students can decide two subjects this year, based on notices from the Guangdong Provincial Education Department.

A designated time for the swimming test will be announced later, said the authority. (Wang Jingli)