Quarantined students offered support via online communication and learning
Lin Xueleyi, a sixth-grader at the east branch of Jincai Middle School in the Pudong New Area, watches the new semester's opening ceremony via the Internet at home on Wednesday.
The east branch of Jincai Middle School in the Pudong New Area had its new semester's opening ceremony livestreamed on Wednesday. It wasn't because there were any celebrities attending the event, but rather because 90 of its students are still under quarantine in connection to recent COVID-19 cases in Shanghai.
"They are in either middle-risk areas or buildings locked down due to close contact with confirmed cases," said Qiu Yili, director of the school's student development center. "To make them not feel left behind, we decided to livestream the ceremony."
To ensure their studies, the school has delivered textbooks to their homes, along with a letter from principal Zheng Gang and postcards from classmates.
In the letter, Zheng said the students are on the front line in the fight against the pandemic, which is the responsibility of the whole society.
He wrote: "I hope you will not miss the opportunities for study and growth during the quarantine."
He encouraged students to learn from and get inspired by government officials, police officers, doctors and volunteers who are working to support their life under quarantine and turn the special experience into an opportunity to develop new thoughts about the world and themselves.
Teachers pack up textbooks for quarantined students for delivery.
Lin Xueleyi, a sixth-grader, replied to the principal's letter.
She said she was anxious when her community was locked down, as both her life and study would be affected.
"But as you said in your letter, we are not alone," she wrote. "The neighborhood committee staff delivered pork and vegetables to our doorstep, and volunteers came to ask about our health condition often. The medical staff wore protective gear to perform nucleic acid tests for us in hot weather with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. Because of their bravery and hard work, everything is in good order."
Lin said she had made detailed study and activity plans for her quarantined life, including doing summer vacation homework, reviewing new lessons, reading and painting, as well as playing card games and watching movies with her family. She also exercises for half an hour every day.
"My head teacher has called me and told me how to study online, which lessened my worries about possible delays in learning," she said. "Though the pandemic has delayed my meeting with teachers and classmates, our hearts grow closer. I'm glad to see you online at the opening ceremony and I'm looking forward to stepping onto the beautiful campus to reunite with all of you in person."
Qiu said all the quarantined students will take classes on the city's "Sky Classroom" platform, which offers free recorded lessons taught by well-known teachers in all subjects in primary and secondary schools and played an important role in the spring semester last year, when students and teachers were stuck at home due to the pandemic. She said school teachers would arrange homework for them, then review and answer students' questions via the Internet.
"Since we all have experienced remote learning at home last year, it's not a problem for both students and teachers," she said. "I'm sure we will get through the difficulties soon."
Qiu said the first batch of about 60 students will finish their quarantine on Saturday and return to school next week, while the rest will return about two weeks later.
