Although there has been no official statement from the local education authorities about when schools are scheduled to reopen, the Yew Chung International School of Beijng with the tireless work from our SMD Department has been preparing for the day. The safety of our students and staff remain the top priority and many decisions will continue to be made with that in mind.

With no student presence on campus, the SMD department whose role is to ensure the smooth day – to - day operations of the school has been planning all the logistics to ensure students return to a safe school environment. “Although we are working from home, all the preparations strictly follow the rules and regulations set by the School, local Food and Drug Administration, Beijing Emergency Management Bureau and Honglingjin Park.”,  declared Delia Wang, Head of SMD.

All items being purchased and are ready for use consist of protective gear, tents, temperature sensors, goggles, alcohol-based hand sanitizer, UV sterilizer for the academic team, UV document disinfection cabinet and disinfected foot mat amongst others.

In addition to the gathering of all necessary products and equipment, the department has also been disinfecting school premises daily with a plan to intensify the process closer to the reopening of schools. Once school resumes Miss Wang reassured us that “We will ensure that public areas are disinfected every two hours, such as doorways, floor mats, doorknobs, banisters, etc., and keep records. We will also ensure that the temperature of the school staff is monitored twice a day and recorded.”,  all administered by a certified company.

As with teachers and the rest of the community that is dealing with the effects of COVID-19, the SMD department has had to deal with challenges during this time of uncertainty, such as revisiting school policies and adjusting documents that relate to giving access to the campus and ensuring that all products are received.

The team has also had to “Learn about the regulations and other documents issued by the headquarters and local government, make our own emergency plan accordingly, including: school gate control, campus cleaning, air conditioning operation, cafeteria work guide, emergency plan and chool bus emergency plan.”  said Miss Wang.

Once her collegues have reviewed all documents they will be assessed before the school’s reopening. This is all to ensure that every party is cognizant of what steps to take in a case of an emergency.

Miss wang concludes by saying “After school reopens, we will devote more manpower to check everyone’ temperature when coming in and out of the campus at the gate, so as to ensure that every student’s temperature is monitored and recorded.”

Times like these tend to also bring communities together, which is what we saw with campuses within our group. Parents have shown support in many ways such as through donating masks and hand sanitisers, reinforcing our community’s Misson of nurturing people with servants’ hearts, who aspire to, and act for, a better world.