“I know schools will be very careful”

Mother of three, Rachel Ong, first started to be concerned about COVID-19 in late December 2019, when the outbreak started in Wuhan. There was a little more talk about the virus in her household compared to others, as her husband is a doctor in a government hospital.

Their children are young – Ariel is in Primary 1, Ashton is in Kindergarten 2, and Amber is in Nursery 2.

“I was stressed and there were so many unknowns. We only knew about the number of fatalities in China and it was scary. We knew it was a matter of time before it came to Singapore,” she said.

When cases first appeared in Singapore about a month later, and her husband was placed on the hospital’s outbreak roster, she realised that the situation was one to be taken seriously.

“I was getting apprehensive, thinking of what to do. But I realised that I still had little reservation about schools going on,” she said.

Here’s why.

Rachel was a teacher for 11 years before becoming a stay-at-home mother in 2014. As a new teacher, one of the first challenges she met with was SARS and the school closures that happened then, in 2003. “I remember there was a week of school closure, which was extended by another week. We had to return to school to prepare materials, print them, and arrange for parents to come to the school to collect the homework. For those who didn’t turn up, we made house calls.”

She added that the teachers were not so prepared then for home-based learning, but had to make do with the resources they had on hand.

The school closure was a chance for schools to put precautionary measures in place to prepare for students’ return to school. “When the students came back, temperature checks were taken very seriously. There were no assemblies and students headed straight to class. Teachers had to promptly follow up on absentees to check why they are not in school.” In subsequent years, Rachel said, every classroom in the school that she was teaching in was equipped with a sink so students could wash their hands and thermometers regularly.

“We were very careful,” she said, adding that in the years after SARS, schools became much more prepared in terms of precautionary measures, protocols, and home-based learning capabilities.

And it is this background as a teacher that gives Rachel the confidence to continue sending her children to school. “I know schools will put in place all precautions and our children are in good hands. As a parent, I can’t deny that I’m scared, but I know that schools will be very careful.”

Talking about her two pre-schoolers, Rachel shares that ECDA regularly and promptly updates parents about precautionary measures. “My daughter, who is 3, can tell me that because there’s a virus, we cannot share food, and we must wash our hands. I think the teachers are doing a good job of educating our children on socially responsible behaviour.”

Changes at home

While Rachel is still sending her children to school, she has opted to cut down on after-school activities and classes.

“The situation is evolving so quickly, so we just have to practise caution, limit our movements and sustain a high level of personal hygiene.”

She also cancelled playdates and turned down invitations to birthday parties. “It’s not easy to be the ‘bad guy’, but I think right now, social distancing and personal hygiene are very important. We have to be socially responsible for the sake of everyone and those around us.”