In China, schools open to youngest children last, citing lack of discipline for physical distancing

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Mr. Jia was worried in part because his son is among the youngest students allowed to return to school in the Chinese capital, which has taken a highly guarded approach to pandemic reopening. Whereas schools in British Columbia and Quebec have reopened their doors wide to younger students, Chinese authorities have been reluctant to allow elementary-school children to return, citing their lack of the discipline required for physical distancing.

Like Canada, China has taken a province-by-province approach to reopening, although each region has tended to follow a similar approach. In Western countries, reopening younger grades removes a child-care burden, allowing parents to return to work. Having young children at home is “causing disruption in society,” Prof. Cowling said. In China, where grandparents play a larger role in raising children, many families have access to child care even if both parents return to work. But parents “will consider high school educationally vital for their children. Primary school is perhaps not so educationally vital,” he said.

However, even if they do not become ill, children can “shed the virus and pass it to parents or grandparents,” said Ivan Hung, chief of the infectious diseases division at the University of Hong Kong. “So it makes a lot of sense to close the schools.” The Hujialou school required children to report their temperatures for two weeks before resuming classes and pass a nucleic acid test to prove they were coronavirus-free. Schools have issued clear guidelines, including a requirement that masks be worn at all times, with exceptions for physical-education classes and lunchtime.

Source: Education Headlines (educationheadlines.net)

Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Tesla rallies above February record high on sales recovery in ChinaCar sales in China rose last month for the first time in almost a year and Teslas were the top selling new-energy vehicles with more than 11,000 units sold
Source: nationalpost - 🏆 10. / 80 Read more »

China monthly car sales rise for first time in almost a yearChina car sales rise for first time in almost a year, sign that world auto market is rebounding Nobody I know buys anything from China🤷‍♂️ NA auto industry is still really slow. Plants and suppliers slowly ramping up. The only people buying cars are government employees. The rest don’t know if they’ll have a job to drive to.
Source: nationalpost - 🏆 10. / 80 Read more »

China won’t respond to pleas to ease tension after call for coronavirus probe: AustraliaChina accused Australia of playing 'petty tricks' and the Chinese ambassador to Australia warned Chinese consumers could boycott Australian products if Australia pursued the inquiry. Isolated, Australia is in for a tough time. There is no need for them to fight this alone. Will Canada grow some balls and stand with democratic partners against the aggression of an authoritarian communist dictatorship,
Source: GlobalNational - 🏆 81. / 51 Read more »

China May exports slip back into contraction, imports worst in 4 yearsOverseas shipments in May fell 3.3 per cent from a year earlier, after a surprising 3.5-per-cent gain in April, customs data showed on Sunday. That compared with a 7-per-cent drop forecast in a Reuters poll globebusiness Okay. And what about our exports?
Source: globeandmail - 🏆 5. / 92 Read more »