The Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) said in a statement that it is providing assistance to students who returned to Macau from the mainland yesterday morning.
Originally, Macau’s schools were slated to resume in-class teaching yesterday but because of the latest COVID-19 development the government decided yesterday morning that the schools remain closed for the time being.
The statement noted that DSEDJ officials went to local schools and various border checkpoints to assist cross-border students and their parents after the bureau had announced the suspension of in-class teaching.
The statement pointed out that the bureau requested cross-border students and their parents not to stay near the border checkpoints, urging them to return to their homes in Macau or to temporarily stay with their local relatives or friends.
The statement urged schools, teachers and students to cooperate with the government’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures while also noting that the bureau and schools are working together to provide further support to the affected students.
Cross-border students are doing their homework in their classroom at Choi Nong Chi Tai School after the yesterday morning’s sudden announcement. Photos courtesy of Choi Nong Chi Tai School
Students from Choi Nong Chi Tai School who signed-up to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are filling in forms and waiting for their jabs at the Ilha Verde Health Clinic yesterday morning.
Temporary accommodation arrangements for cross-border students
Meanwhile, the bureau said in a separate statement that it had contacted local schools regarding their cross-border students to gather information about their accommodation needs following the latest border-crossing arrangements in the wake of yesterday’s COVID-19 developments in Macau.
The statement said that cross-border students who do not have accommodation in Macau could consider staying with relatives or friends, adding that arrangements should be made as soon as possible. The bureau also said it was coordinating with other government entities the possibility of providing alternative accommodation for the students concerned, the statement noted.
The statement urged that students who require assistance can register with their school to ensure that the bureau can collect the necessary data in order to make proper arrangements.
The statement said that enquiries can be made by phoning 2855 5533.
Students, principal respond to ‘abrupt’ announcement
When the government announced the suspension of the plan to lift the mandatory quarantine for Macau residents heading to Zhuhai yesterday morning, a parent in Ilha Verde district told The Macau Post Daily that she was worried about a community outbreak in Macau. She pointed out that she suffers a dilemma between taking her daughter to the wet market to buy groceries and thereby putting her at risk of catching COVID-19 or leaving her alone at home. She added that she would prefer the former but she was “very worried” about the novel coronavirus pandemic situation.
Meanwhile, a Form 5 secondary student told The Macau Post Daily that she was worried the new arrangements would affect her studies. She underlined that she will be taking her university entry exam next year, adding that she can’t focus on her classes when they take place online. She also pointed out that being at home, there tends to be a lot of noise that distracts her from studying. Therefore, she said, she was extra “anxious” about Macau’s latest COVID-19 cases.
The principal of Choi Nong Chi Tai School, Vong Kuoc Ieng, said that when he learnt of the “abrupt” announcement, over 100 of his students had already arrived at the school. He told The Macau Post Daily that most of those students are cross-border students, stressing that some of their parents still have other children in the mainland to look after. He said that the school could only provide comfort to the “worried” parents and wait for the government to make further arrangements.
Vong pointed out that, fortunately enough, the kindergarteners did not start school until 8:45 a.m. yesterday so that most of them knew of the government’s “change of plans” or else it would have been worse. However, Vong said, there were some primary school students that crossed the border on their own, aged between seven and 10 years. He said that if the government could not arrange accommodation for the cross-border students, then the school would try to ask the teaching personnel and local parents to see whether “they could take them in”.
Moreover, Vong said that his school had arranged for 50 cross-border secondary school students to get vaccinated yesterday, adding that, “luckily enough”, only 30 of them had turned up. He pointed out that he still took them to be inoculated along with other students who planned to get vaccinated yesterday. He noted that when he arrived at the Ilha Verde Health Clinic, he was “shocked” to find there were over 200 students queuing up to get vaccinated.
The government’s COVID-19 vaccination drive was suspended later yesterday before the start of the citywide nucleic acid testing programme last night.
Vong said that the school provided lunch for its students and their parents who showed up at school yesterday.
