THERE is no clear indication yet how COVID-19 physical distancing will be maintained in schools, especially those with as many as three dozen students per class, when full face-to-face classes resume in a few weeks, as indicated by the Government.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says a multifaceted approach will have to be taken to protect children because physical distancing will be a challenge.

“I agree that physical distancing will be difficult. We will therefore have to rely more on sanitising, mask-wearing and testing, even while we work with schools and the education ministry to increase monitoring of activities,” he told the Jamaica Observer on Friday.

When the Disaster Risk Management Act orders are retired, as Prime Minister Andrew Holness says they will be, the limit for various gatherings will expire but the physical distancing protocol is still an international recommendation as part of measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

There are, on average, 30 students per class depending on population, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association has said.

Its president, Winston Smith, said teachers have, over the years, been asking for single-seat arrangements for children in the classroom. He said individual seats provide a more conducive environment for teaching and learning, especially in this COVID-19 dispensation when physical distance is of paramount importance.

“We have been lobbying for that from as far [back] as I can remember. This kind of change requires capital expenditures to bring about a general change or upgrade of each school. To do that, it would be necessary for more classrooms to be built. This is something that we have been calling for as well,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Smith has already said teachers are apprehensive about the prospect of a full return to the classroom, fearful of possible spread of COVID-19 which could put them out of the classroom and affect operations.

One of the recommendations in the recently published Jamaica Education Transformation Commission report is for a reduction in student to teacher ratios to make both the physical and online teaching environment more conducive to student engagement and effective teaching.

The Professor Orlando Patterson-chaired commission says in the short term, classroom sizes and/or teacher/student ratio should be mandated, and minimum infrastructure and equipment standards for classrooms and schools updated in the medium term.

Some of the recommendations by the United Nations Children’s Fund for physical distancing in the classroom, up to September 2021, are that a distance of at least one metre should be maintained; desk spacing should be increased to at least one metre between each unit; and the school day should be staggered to avoid having all the students and teachers together at once.

Currently most public schools are using a staggered approach, with variations between start and dismissal times for groups of students, different days on and days off, or the minimum two-day face-to-face interaction as prescribed by the Education Ministry.