Education minister Ong Ye Kung has taken to Facebook on Monday evening, June 1, to address teachers directly as schools prepare to re-open on June 2 when Singapore exits the circuit breaker period.

In his two-and-a-half-minute piece to the video, Ong spoke to teachers to encourage and reassure them that measures are in place to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as letting them know that MOE has their back.

One measure that came as a surprise was to allow teachers to not show up to class to teach in the event they are sick, or if a family member has fallen ill.

Ong told teachers: "And so I want to let you know that tomorrow, the schools will have many more measures, more than before we suspended schools on April 8."

"So we'll have a comprehensive safe management system," Ong continued mid-way through his video.

He added: "And the best way to do so, if you're sick, you're excused from coming to school to teach."

"And if you're living with a family member who is sick, with a cough or fever, you too will be excused from coming to school."

"And your principal, your colleagues, will understand and will cover you."

Reassurance

This reassurance comes at a time when Singapore is still coping with Covid-19 cases daily, even though community spread has fallen to negligible numbers.

Ong's video message resonated, as it was shared some 1,600 times within three hours.

He started his video by commending the good work teachers have done so far, and acknowledging that teachers are working parents too.

"You have done so much to keep our schools safe so far, and tomorrow, we all know, parents, maybe even the students themselves will have some apprehension," he said.

"And it is now upon us and all of us to make sure that schools continue to be safe so that parents have peace of mind to leave their kids with us while they go to work."

Ong then acknowledged that school restarting will be good for students.

He told teachers that "more and more students will go out and it's much better for them to come to school".

He also said schools reopening will also be good for teachers.

Quoting a teacher, Ong said that "without the students, school is just a concrete building".

You can watch the full video here: