KUCHING: Kindergartens operating during the current conditional movement control order (CMCO) are adhering strictly to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to keep the children under their care safe and sound.
Although the children have to observe the strict SOPs, school is still fun for them, said the Association of Kindergarten Operators (AKO) chairman Jason Kong.
It is not all serious studying for the young boys and girls. The fun activities still go on but with set standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“As long as we (adults and educators) explain properly the situation to the children, they can understand.
“For example, here at Tadika Kurnia, we practise social distancing by asking the children to stay in the bubbles we have provided for them,” said Kong.
He explained that every classroom had stickers of bubbles pasted on the floor and the children had to stay inside the bubbles.
“We tell them stories of the bubbles and how they need to stay inside so that they can abide by the SOPs and stay safe.
“The bubbles do not mean that they are restricted from interacting and doing activities together with their classmates. They just help them to avoid direct contacts with each other,” Kong added.
“It has become a norm for the children to follow the SOPs every morning upon their arrival. They now know and remember all the things they have to do.
“Compared to last time, now we only spend two to three minutes to sanitise the children before letting them in,” he said.
SOP compliance on arrival at a kindergarten 
SOP compliance on arrival at a kindergarten
Kong added that the parents also practised the SOPs when they were at the kindergartens.
He explained that the children at Tadika Kurnia had to undergo temperature checks before entering, during recess and before going home.
“If any children have high temperature during the recess temperature checking, we will immediately isolate them and call their parents to pick them up,” he said.
“Every week before Monday, we will request the parents to fill in the health declaration forms in order to keep track of whether they have been to exposed places, whether they go on interstate travel and whether they or their family members have Covid-19 symptoms or not.
“If they have any family members who are symptomatic, the children are not allowed to come to the kindergartens until they do their second screen tests.
“We do a lot of background checks so that the safety of the children and the educators is guaranteed. In addition, the health declaration is also done by the educators as well.
“We advise our educators to stay at home so that they are not exposed to the virus that may affect the children under them.”
Sanitisation before entering the classrooms. 
Sanitisation before entering the classrooms. 
The children wash their hands thoroughly before going to their classrooms.
Kong praised the parents for their honesty when filling out the forms.
“It is fortunate that the parents are honest. To ensure everyone’s safety, every relevant party needs to work together so that everything will be fine,” he said.
He said the SOP guidelines were written by the association after combining the given SOPs by the State Health Department and the Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Ministry.
“We put the SOPs together, strengthened them and made them into our guidelines,” he explained.
Tadika Kurnia principal Esther Foo said “Here in our kindy, we provide ziplock bags for the children upon their arrival. The bags are reusable. They are easier to sanitise compared to the bags they bring.
“The children have their own ziplock bags with their names and after use, the bags will be sanitised and changed weekly,” she said.
Foo further explained that the bags brought by the children would be put on the special racks outside the classrooms. The children would only bring in their utensils and homemade food and other necessities.
“Of course, before entering, the children’s temperature will be taken. They will be sanitised as well and they need to wash their legs.
“After their teachers wipe their legs dry, the children will go to the back and wash their hands thoroughly before going to their own bubbles,” she added.
The children of Tadika Kurnia having their meal on their respective desk with barrier between them. Photo: Ramidi Subari 
The children of Tadika Kurnia having their meal on their respective desk with barrier between them. Photo: Ramidi Subari
Foo said two-layer sanitisation was required because along the way, the children might have touched their friends and so on.
“In addition, every day, after all the parents pick up their children, we will fog the classrooms and sanitise everything,” she added.
She also revealed that after the kindergarten received the green light to reopen after the first movement control order (MCO), it had to spend a lot to buy sanitisers, detergents and stationery for every child.
“We also provide the children with their own whiteboards as they are not allowed to share things anymore.
“But the children still have fun drawing on the whiteboards and showing them to their friends and teachers,” she added.
On the number of children per class, Foo said it depended on the size of the classrooms itself. She added that some of the classes only had six children in it.
The children of Tadika Kurnia sits at a predetermined physical distance during their classes. Photo: Ramidi Subari 
The children of Tadika Kurnia sits on the chairs inside the safety bubble throughout the classes. Photo: Ramidi Subari
“The small number of children in the class and the fact that they need to stay in their bubbles do not mean that they are restricted from having a fun learning environment.
“We will change the settings of the classrooms and the children from time to time following the activities provided. Sometimes, we also conduct outside activities such as road safety activities with them,” she explained.
On the challenges of being an educator during the Covid-19 pandemic, Foo said they needed to think of activities that had never been done before. These activities had to be fun and there must also be minimised contacts among the children.
Like Kong, she is thankful the children have cooperative parents.
“If the children are sick, their parents will call us up and inform us that they will not be sending their children to the kindy for the day.
“Children who miss their classes are able to catch up on their lessons through the worksheets that have been uploaded in the Google Classroom,” she said.
As an extra precaution, Foo added each classroom also had its own tablecloth to sanitise the tables after use.
“After wiping the tables, the teachers have to wash and sanitise the tablecloth before wiping the next table. This matter is crucial as we do not want any bacterial or virus transmission from happening,” she explained.
Foo also revealed that the children were given their own handkerchiefs to wipe themselves.
“After their school hours, we will take the handkerchiefs to wash and sanitise and then soak them in hot water.
“This is one of the ways to ensure the things are thoroughly sanitised.
“We do not allow the children to bring handkerchiefs from home because we do not know whether they are properly sanitised and washed,” she added.
