The Ministry of Education should consider reinstating desk dividers for students having meals in the classroom, the National Federation of Education Unions said yesterday.
Elementary and high schools started the new semester on Aug. 30. New on-campus COVID-19 prevention guidelines, including allowing the teachers and classmates of a confirmed case to continue in-person classes if they test negative, took effect on Monday last week.
According to the ministry’s latest COVID-19 prevention guidelines for schools, students are no longer required to use desk dividers when eating, but they are forbidden from talking during meals.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
Federation president Lin Shuo-chieh (林碩杰) yesterday said the guidelines have made many teachers feel at a loss at what to do during meal times and disinfection afterward.
It is difficult for teachers to stop students from talking during meals, and such a practice could breach the regulations on the guidance and disciplining of students, he said.
The Central Epidemic Command Center and the ministry should provide schools with the funding to purchase desk dividers, he added.
As it is now the peak season for graduation trips, many cities and counties require trip participants to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or produce a negative test result from a rapid test taken within two days, Lin said.
However, the guidelines only say that travel agencies contracted for field trips must follow the Tourism Bureau’s COVID-19 prevention guidelines for group tours, he said.
According to group tour guidelines, travel agencies should “help travelers who test positive seek medical attention and ensure they do not come into contact with other tour members,” but standard operating procedures are not explained, Lin said.
Teachers do not know what to do when a student feels ill or tests positive for COVID-19 at a hotel during a field trip, he said.
“Should the student be left to isolate in a hotel room? Should all the classmates in the same vehicle take a rapid test? Or should the student be sent home in a disease prevention vehicle the next day?” Lin said.
If Taiwan’s COVID-19 situation worsens, field trips could cause more students to become infected, so the ministry should inform local education departments to suspend field trips when required, he said.
The ministry said teachers and classmates are familiar with each other, unlike strangers in a restaurant, so desk dividers are not required.
As for standard operating procedures for graduation trips, the ministry said it has a set of COVID-19 prevention and management guidelines covering educational institutions from preschools to high schools, adding that disease prevention measures for schools are based on the CECC’s latest COVID-19 regulations.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
RSS