Countries across the world are coming up with various ways to get children back into the classroom after being off school since March. In Thailand, they have come up with these plastic boxes that show children learning and playing alongside one another but unable to come into contact in a bid to slow coronavirus.
These pictures show primary school children sitting on the floor and playing in their boxes while older pupils have them attached to their desks. The school, in the Thai capital of Bangkok, reopened its doors at the beginning of July to around 250 pupils after lockdown measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic were relaxed.
It was forced to close in March due to Thailand’s emergency decree. Teachers and the school administration have been using the time in between to prepare the building for a safe opening. They have installed sinks and soap dispenses outside each classroom.
Social distancing screens have been placed in classrooms and lunch areas. And pupils will be greeted by the sight of hand sanitiser and temperature scanners when they arrive. The school has had zero cases of Covid-19 since reopening.
It has chosen to maintain strict social distancing in a bid to protect staff and pupils, despite the Thai government allowing schools across the country to further relax safety measures.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson today insisted it was a ‘moral duty’ to make sure reopen schools by September – despite a backlash to the plans. Children are said to be ‘very minor players’ in the transmission of coronavirus, a leading expert has said – insisting opening schools would ‘add little’ to the reproducing rate of infection.
A study published last week gave insight into the spread of the virus in New South Wales, Australia. The research, published in The Lancet Child And Adolescent Health journal, looked at data from the region between January and April. It found the risk of children and staff transmitting the virus in these educational settings was very low when contact tracing and “epidemic management” is in place.
