KUCHING: During the nationwide reopening of schools on Wednesday (June 24), students, teachers and staff had to comply with strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
At Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) St Thomas here, the students, who comprised fifth and sixth formers, adhered faithfully to the SOPs.
Upon entering the entrance, they underwent temperature checks, cleaned their hands with sanitisers and passed through a disinfection chamber set up by the school itself.
According to principal, Robin Sabai, the sanitisation chamber was part of the school’s initiative, among others, to prevent the students from contracting Covid-19.
Robin added all the procedures went smoothly.
Noting that the students were queuing until the road, he felt that the problem could be solved by relocating the disinfection chamber further inside the school so that the students would queue up within the school compound instead.
The students also sat one metre apart while the number of students per class was determined by the size of the classroom. On average, there were about 20 students per classroom.
Due to social distancing, some classes were moved to different blocks of the school.
The students preordered their meals for recess and class representatives took them to the classrooms.
Prior to leaving the school, students had their temperatures checked and queued up one metre apart near the side exit.
Robin expressed his satisfaction with the implementation of the SOPs. However, he felt that the procedures could be expedited.
“We are adapting well and we are doing well.
“I hope and pray that the movement control order (MCO) will not affect the studies of the students. I hope they will take this situation in stride as part of the challenges of the new normal,” he added.
