Singapore preschools and care centres are set to reopen on June 1, 2020 as Circuit Breaker restrictions start to lift after a nearly two-month hiatus, with robust measures in place to protect young school-going children.

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) announced on Tuesday (May 19) that all preschools and early intervention centres will reopen in phases over the course of eight days, between June 2 and June 10:

• June 2 onwards: Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2 children can return to school
• June 8 onwards: Nursery 1 and Nursery 2 children can return
• June 10 onwards: Infant Care and Playgroup will be allowed to return

This phased reopening will ease the transition for preschool children and help all centres ensure that staff, children, and parents adhere to a set of safe management measures in place.

These enhanced safe management measures, which ECDA calls "Covid-Safe ABCs", aim to limit the transmission of the virus through restricting access, changing personal hygiene behaviour, and reducing interactions between students from different classes.

The ABCs here stand for Access, Behaviour, and Classrooms —

Covid-Safe Access: 

1. Restricting entry of visitors.
2. Restricting staff and children who face higher risk of infection (e.g. children with household members on HQO or SHN).
3. Requiring SafeEntry and travel declarations for staff, children and visitors.
4. Reinforcing strict temperature/health checks for all staff and children multiple times a day.

Covid-Safe Behaviour:

1. Mask/shield to be worn by all staff and children aged two years and older.
2. Step up hand-washing and personal hygiene among children and staff.
3. Step up cleaning and disinfection of premises and equipment.
4. Downsize groups for activities within each class, with no mixing between the groups.
5. Refrain from cross-sharing of materials as far as possible and designate key equipment such as seats and cots.

Covid-Safe Classrooms

1. Keeping staff and children within their own bays, floors or classes as far as possible.
2. Staggering drop-off and pick-up of children to reduce the interaction of people at arrival and dismissal.
3. Staggering use of common areas and facilities by different classes to avoid interaction between classes.
4. Suspending cross-deployment of staff across centres.
5. Suspending cross-class activities for children and staff e.g. large group activities, enrichment programmes and staff meetings/training/gatherings.

Academic calendar updated

Preschools, along with other educational institutions, were originally closed from April 8 to May 1 in light of the growing number of Covid-19 cases back then.

This was later extended until June 1.

Kindergartens also updated their academic calendar to move the June school holidays forward to May. This meant that the school break commenced from May 5 to June 1.

Kindergarten Term 3 will run from June 2 to September 6, with a mid-term break from July 20 to 26.

Preschool staff sent for Covid-19 swab tests

Since May 15, ECDA started sending some 30,000 preschool and early intervention staff, including principals, teachers, programme staff, administrative staff, cooks and cleaners for swab tests.

The tests are expected to be completed by May 26.

The agency added that these tests complement other precautionary measures that have been put in place since January 2020, including:

• Travel declarations from all staff, children and visitors
• Tighter and more frequent health checks
• Suspension of large group and communal activities
• Restriction of visitors
• Safe distancing measure and wearing of masks by preschool staff and children aged two years and older

Top image via MSF/Facebook.