With Singapore moving towards living with COVID-19 as an endemic disease, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has updated safety rules for all tuition and enrichment classes including both at home and the centre classroom.
In a press release on 19 August (Thursday), MOE has strongly encouraged all tuition and enrichment classes to continue the online mode.
For those that choose to resume in-person instruction, some safety rules and measures in the classroom will be eased.
Safety Rules And Measures At Classroom Settings With Children Aged 12 And Below
The Multi-Ministry Task Force previously announced that safe management measures in Singapore will gradually be eased from 10 August.
This advisory outlined the easing of some safety rules and measures at classroom settings and said it will take effect from Thursday.
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Fast and Easy Testing For Cleaners Among Safety Rules At Classroom Settings
It will be mandatory for workers involved in higher-risk activities to undergo Fast and Easy Testing (FET).
This includes cleaners who work in private tuition and enrichment centres with students aged 12 years and below. It will be needed regardless of their vaccination status.
‘Vaccine Or Regular Test’ Required For All Staff In Private Tuition And Enrichment Centres
All tutors, instructors or staff working in private tuition and enrichment centres with students aged 12 years and below are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated. They have been given the window from 6 August to 30 September this year.
Starting from 1 October, 2021, the “Vaccine or Regular Test” regime will begin for these staff members.
Those who are working in the centres and are unvaccinated will be required to undergo FET twice a week. Only those already vaccinated will be exempt from regular testing.
It will be the centre’s responsibility to implement the “Vaccine or Regular Test” regime among their staff.
Safety Measures In Centres With On-Premise Instruction
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To help reduce the risk of transmission within tuition and enrichment centres with on-premise instruction, they will be required to abide by the nationwide safe management measures for workplaces.
For these centres allowed to continue on-premise instruction, the following safety management measures are put in place:
1. Indoor Mask-Off Activities
Classes involving indoor mask-off activities, singing classes and those involving the playing of instruments that require the intentional expulsion of air may continue.
These will be allowed while subjected to different class sizes and group size limits depending on the activity, setting and vaccination status of the students.
2. Safe Distancing Measures
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Students
Private tuition and enrichment centres must ensure that there is safe distancing between students by putting up appropriate floor demarcations and/or physical barriers.
Students in different classrooms must also be under strict separation at all times, as no intermingling is allowed.
There must be at least 1m distance students with strictly no physical interaction.
If it is not possible to apply 1m safe distancing and some interaction is unavoidable, then students may be organised into groups of no more than 5 students. This is still with strictly no physical interaction or intermingling between different groups.
A minimum of 1m distance is needed between groups but MOE advises that 2m spacing is best.
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Tutors And Instructors
MOE has advised that tutors or instructors minimise their contact with students. If some interaction is unavoidable, then contact with their students should be “transient.” They should also remain at the front of the class as much as possible.
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Capacity
Centres should not hold more than 50 persons in a single room. This is including tutors or instructors even with the rest of the safety measures adopted.
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No Cross-Deployment Across Worksites
As per the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) guidelines for workplaces, centres must ensure that there is no cross-deployment across worksites. They should also ensure that no staff member will work at more than one worksite.
3. Health Declarations
Students placed on Leave of Absence (LOA) or Approved Absence (AA) by their schools should not be permitted to enter the centre premises. This includes students and staff who are on a Stay Home Notice (SHN) or Home Quarantine Order (HQO).
MOE also advises that centres watch out for staff and students with fever or respiratory symptoms such as:
- Sneezing
- Breathlessness
- Runny nose
- Loss of smell
- Cough
- Sore throat
Those experiencing such symptoms or feel unwell have been advised to leave the centre and seek a doctor immediately. They should also not be allowed to attend lessons.
Centres should check if a family member living in the same household is unwell and if so, the student will not be allowed to attend class in person.
4. Disinfection Of Surfaces
Centres must ensure all surfaces in classrooms are thoroughly disinfected between classes. Sharing of all equipment should also be avoided as much as possible.
If this cannot be done, then the equipment should be thoroughly cleaned and/or disinfected before being used by others. But the sharing of wind or brass instruments is not allowed.
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5. Wearing of masks
Masks must be worn as default at all times. This is excluding persons allowed to use face shields instead such as those with health conditions involving breathing or medical difficulties when a mask is worn for too long.
Instructors should wear a surgical or reusable mask at all times.
6. Class Timings
There should be at least 15 minutes allocated between classes to allow adequate time to disinfect classroom surfaces. This is also to ensure strict separation of individuals from different classes.
Centres should also work out attendance and dismissal arrangements that can help avoid the congestion of persons both indoors and outside.
7. Workforce Arrangements
Up to 50 per cent of employees who can work from home may return to the workplace, as per MOM’s guidelines.
Employees who must return to the workplace, centres will be required to adhere to all prevailing safe management measures for workplaces. These include:
- Health checks
- The use of SafeEntry to support contact tracing for all employees
- Wearing masks at all times
- Regular cleaning of common facilities and high-touch areas
8. Additional safety measures among tuition and enrichment classroom settings
- All centre premises should abide by the latest guidance on improving ventilation and indoor air quality in buildings.
- Indoor live performance by these centres should still be postponed until further notice.
Safety Measures For Private Tuition And Enrichment Classes In Private Residences
For home-based tuition or enrichment classes that conduct in-person lessons are subject to the current national group size limit and number of unique household visitors allowed per day.
Home ventilation should also be improved by opening doors and windows. The use of fans can also help promote air circulation when needed.
For more enquiries about safe management measures for home-based services, check here.
“Tuition and enrichment centres are responsible for ensuring that all safe management measures are implemented in their premises at all times. To ensure compliance, inspectors from MOE will be conducting inspections to check on the proper implementation of the safe management measures,” says the ministry.
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