Senior high school students to return to campus from June 6
Last year's college entrance exam.
After studying online at home for nearly three months, some students in Shanghai can return to their campus from next month with strict prevention measures as the city's COVID-19 resurgence wanes.
The third- and second-grade students of local senior high schools will return to school from June 6 to prepare for the college entrance exam, known as gaokao, which has been postponed for a month to early July.
The third-grade junior high students will return to campus from June 13 to get themselves ready for the senior high school entrance examination scheduled on July 11 and 12, according to the Shanghai Education Commission.
"It is not mandatory. Students and parents can decide whether to return to school or keep studying at home," said Yang Zhenfeng, deputy director of the commission.
Other elementary and high school students will keep studying online at home through the end of the semester. Families having difficulty taking care of kids at home can apply for their return to school from June 6.
Before the end of the semester, local schools can arrange students' return to the campus once for some activities, such as the graduation ceremony for fifth-grade elementary school students, Yang said. Children at kindergartens and nursery schools should not return to school.
Preparing for the college entrance exam amid the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
Some 1.56 million students of local kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools have been shifted to online classes at home since March 12.
Shanghai Vice Mayor Chen Qun has said a period of studies at school can help the students consolidate their studies, calm down and become accustomed to the exam environment.
At least three rounds of disinfection will be conducted for the schools that once served as makeshift hospitals or transferring sites for positive cases before May 29 to spare at least a week to ensure the ventilation of the disinfected campuses, said Yang. Other schools will also undergo thorough disinfection and cleaning before receiving the returned students.
Each school will set up PCR sample collection sites to ensure every student will receive a PCR test at school every day and the results will come out within 12 hours before they go to school the next morning.
Students and teachers must scan the venue code or receive checks from digital sentry machines. Everyone must take an antigen self-test before going to school and a PCR test before leaving the school, along with two temperature checks.
Schools will be under grid management according to grades and classes. Students and teachers of different grids will stagger and avoid contacting each other. Once any infection appears, quarantine measures will be conducted on certain grids to avoid influencing other students.
Emergency response and supply reserves will be prepared. The district governments will allocate some hotels with good living conditions for the quarantine of close contacts at school. The districts are also required to prepare sufficient anti-COVID-19 supplies that can be used for at least a month for each school.
Yang said teachers will offer customized help to students who were infected with COVID-19 or underwent central quarantines, along with those whose parents are taking part in the anti-COVID-19 fight, or who have poor study conditions.
Students test abnormal after returning to school will be transferred to Oriental Land, which is the city's teenager extracurricular activities campsite in Qingpu District, for medical observation.
The college entrance exam amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The city's best teachers will offer online guidance for students.
Close contacts will be transferred to the central quarantine hotels arranged by the district governments.
Parents are allowed to accompany their children for quarantine, while quality teachers will also give online classes.
Specialized examination makeshift hospitals and emergency exam sites will be set up for infected examinees and close contacts, Yang said.
"Parents must be worried and anxious because the college and high school entrance exams are related to the future and prospects of their children," he said.
"We will try our best to create the ideal study and examination environment for the examinees," he added.
The final exam of this semester will be canceled for students between the first grade at elementary school and second grade of junior high school. It will be replaced by comprehensive evaluation based on their online learning performance.
The districts and schools will also arrange specialized transportation to pick up and send back students with difficulties to ensure their safety.
The number of local infections dropped by about 12 percent to 338 on Wednesday with zero community infections.
All the close and secondary contacts of the city's community infection case reported in Jiading District on Tuesday have tested negative twice, said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the thee Shanghai Health Commission.
Students take part in the college entrance exam amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
