HK Closes Kindergartens and Primary Schools H1N1

We used to be in Baby buddies and our used to love it but honestly speaking we used to see so many kids with running noses in that place.
 
The playgroup we go to has remained open, but they are offering classes on voluntary basis and will allow make up classes when needed. They have been quite flexible with the arrangement.

I think that playgroups are not governed by the law, so they can operate as usual, so it is up to the owners how flexible (or inflexible) they want to be.

I am quite happy that we can still go as I will be crazy if I have to think of things to do at home in this rain to keep my child occupied!
 
As of June 12 (which is a few days ago, already) only 145 people, worldwide have died of the H1N1 strain of the flu. A CNN article from April 28, 2009 (which, again, is not the most recent article) notes that the regular flu had already killed thousands since January 2009.

There are a lot of what-ifs in this world, I think and basically, living in the world means taking risks. But, at this point the H1N1 flu strain is a big non-event. Even if a child is infected with it, it's rarely anything more than a case of the flu--in some cases the child may need to be hospitalized--but that is also the case with the ordinary flu bug. I'd really like to see the statistics, not on the number of people infected, but upon the severity of the infections (number of people in critical condition because of the flu). To report that more people have been infected with the flu is, in itself a non-event. If people start dying of this flu in Hong Kong, then that is a cause for concern. Outside of Mexico (and those who were infected in Mexico, crossed the border and then were admitted to hospital) the mortality rate for H1N1 is really, really low.

For PR reasons and maybe some legitimate health risks, the government closed the kindergartens and may close the high schools. But, I think that hindsight will eventually prove that this situation has been somewhat of a false alarm in light of the facts about how dangerous this flu bug really is.

I watched a lecture by a well-known doctor talking about the principles of transmittable diseases. He said that generally, diseases that kill rapidly without and from which recovery is almost impossible (i.e. ebola) usually don't transmit very far. It's sort of like a forest fire that burns fast and hot but once it has consumed all the fuel around it, dies out. Whereas, diseases that spread very quickly and throughout the population (i.e. the current H1N1 strain of the flu) usually don't pack enough punch to be fatal in most cases.
 
If places like Baby Buddies or Playtown are open, and you disagree in principle, then just don't go. As mentioned earlier they still probably have staff and rent to pay and the temp school closure is a precautionary measure not a blanket quarantine of all young kids.

And there is a demand of course. I know many mums now arranging playdates at each others homes and these are surely not commercially motivated...
 
I think like many other playgroups they should give the option of makeup classes. It will enable parents to keep their child at home if he/she is unwell. I realise Swine flu as of now isn't a serious threat and I am not confining my daughter to our house 24/7. The doctor thanks2 is talking about hasn't heard about diseases like cholera or TB :))
 
Cholera and TB are completely treatable diseases if they are diagnosed and treated--they may spread rampantly but do not kill instantly (within a few days as does ebola). That is the point I was making. Even without modern medicine it takes a long time for TB to kill someone and considering that we live in a modern age we have a lot of medicine and other precautionary devices (masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, soap & water) to help us.
 
I don't wish to argue here, we have different view points and I respect yours. All I am saying is that a disease does not have to be fatal for it to be dangereous. 54 patients have been infected the virus in a single day in HK, making the total number to be 172 including a 10 month old baby. We know little about the new strains of virsuses how they mutate, transmit etc etc, so nothing wrong in being cautious is what I say :)
 
Wow, where did you get that list from? That's handy to know!!! Thanks Geomum!

Loads of buildings then in HK with confirmed cases.....

I do wonder how many people have died in HK this year from normal flu? Does the Government release statistics on that?

The public playgrounds are pretty empty but then its 32 degrees Celsius outside.....
 
A bit of a vent. The schools knew that the Gov't was considering shutting them down. Am annoyed that some schools haven't prepared for the closures.

Have checked a few ESF primary websites, and they are either emailing kids daily activities, or asking parents to pick up work packs. Teachers have been calling students to see how they are managing. Our school hasn't done any of this. You would think there would be some consistency among ESF schools.
 
Our son's school has been good about this... very pro-active in terms of making sure we have activity sheets, etc.

But now that brings me to another question --

Okay, so now the closure has been extended. Fine for those schools whose academic year ends by end of June anyway, but what about those whose academic year runs to the end of July? Are we expected to pay the tuition fee for July as well, seeing as there will NOT be any class in July at all?

I got an email reminder for July tuition last week (probably a "scheduled" send, as they do every month), but this was before the announcement last night about the extension of the closure. I'm waiting to hear from our school today... or failing that, we'll be having a parent-teacher meeting tomorrow and I guess I can ask then. I just don't think it's fair if they expect us to still pay when there won't be any class at all for July, even if they continue to send us activity sheets, etc.

I just want to find out what you think about having to pay for a whole month's tuition when there will be no classes. I do understand that the gov't has asked that the schools remain open in case there are families who could not arrange for proper child care. But, but, but...

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.
 
Teachers still need to be paid.
The schools still need to be maintained.
The administrative staff (and most teachers) will still be working.
Off course the fees shoud be paid.
You made the decision to send your child to a fee paying school, and this means that you are responsible for keeping the school running - even during a crazy time like this.
 
HappyV - So true what you said. Unfortunately, there are many schools where the staff has already put on their grass skirts and broken out the bottles of tequila.

Going back to my long standing problem with the ESF ... we're seeing a huge amount of discrepancy between how the various schools have reacted to this closure. Some schools - the teachers actually seem to be concerned that the kids are missing out on two weeks worth of education and they're taking the initiative to keep in touch via phone / emails and online. Some schools have prepared work packets for the kids / parents so that they can get caught up. And then there is one school which hosted a juggling video from YouTube to make sure that students would not miss school. Speaks volumes of how much they care....
 
HappyV - I understand your perspective on this and I do agree to a certain extent. It's not the school's fault that the gov't decided to suspend classes. However, we're paying to get an "education" for our child/ren, which they will not be getting for a whole month (not even counting these 2 weeks)... that's where I am coming from. Surely, there's some sort of middle ground..?
 
most schools should provide "on-line learning materials" for students so that even if there is no "school" school per say, children are still learning and the curriculum set out for students can and will be "taught". as a teacher myself, i know first hand that much MORE time is spend preparing and putting things on the web for students compared to teaching them at school, so the workload is in fact MORE for the teacher in these days....of course if your school is not following up with online work, then I don't know what to say, but for those of us who do put stuff online, it'd really be nice to get paid to do, rather than just do it "voluntarily" - no matter how much I love my job.
 
If a school is not following through with the government guidelines of preparing either e-learning or learning packets to be picked up, then I do think parents have a right to complain.
Certainly, all the schools I know of have done a huge amount of work in providing worksheets/lesson plans over the net.
Shri - I know you are an administrator, and perhaps feel that you can't say it here, but you've made a lot of comments regarding a particular ESH school. I think I would speak for a few people here when I say "Tell us which one it os, so that we don;t send out kids there!" :)
 
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HappyV,

Apparently now that we've moved to PYP, they don't use worksheets anymore. Everything is activity based. Well we didn't even get any ideas/list of activities. Spoke to my son's teacher today, and apparently we were supposed to ASK for more work. #$%%%. This is the 3rd time in 5 years the Gov't has closed schools and I'm sure its not the last. It just annoys me that some schools aren't prepared/proactive as others.
 
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Wow I work at a PYP school and we still put packages together for the students and did daily posts with problems, tasks, inquires etc. for the students. Sounds to me like they are using the PYP as an excuse. On the other side of things, as a teacher I was frustrated by how few parents even read the posts let alone had the children look at or complete the work.
 
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