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SINGAPORE: Westwood Secondary and Presbyterian High will postpone school reopening by a week, after a teacher in each school had tested positive for the H1N1 virus.
Schools in Singapore are set to reopen on Monday, June 29 after a month of holidays, but Westwood Secondary and Presbyterian High will reopen on July 7 - July 6 being Youth Day, a school holiday for secondary schools.
To prevent the spread of disease to other students, the Education Ministry said the staff and students who were in close contact with the infected teachers have been advised to take a Leave of Absence for seven days and to stay home and monitor their health.
As many teachers in the two schools will be on Leave of Absence, the schools will postpone their school reopening and students will have home-based learning lessons.
At Westwood Secondary, a teacher tested positive for the H1N1 virus on June 27. He had taken part in three school activities from June 22 to 26 - an NPCC camp at Pulau Ubin, a Social Studies Workshop and a staff seminar.
The teacher did not have a fever or other symptoms apart from a cough. While he had no fever, the school is taking the extra precautionary measure of placing all students and staff who were in close contact with this teacher on Leave of Absence since June 22, when his cough started.
This includes 74 school staff at the staff seminar. 58 students will also be placed on LOA. These students will be advised to stay at home and to monitor their health closely while they are on LOA.
Over at Presbyterian High, a teacher from the school had seen a doctor on June 23 afternoon when she felt unwell and was given two days of medical leave, from June 24 to 25.
She attended the Staff Symposium on June 26 as she felt well. The teacher went to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on June 27 as she felt unwell again and tested positive for the H1N1 virus on that day.
She was in close contact with teachers from the school on three occasions in the week - discussions with a few teachers on June 22 and 23, and a staff symposium on June 26. 70 staff will be asked to take LOA from school for seven days.
All students in Westwood Secondary and Presbyterian High School will be provided with home-based learning lessons. The schools will monitor the students' progress through channels such as telephone, email and the schools' learning management systems.
The schools will also keep parents informed of the learning activities and accompanying study schedules. When these students return to school, teachers may also conduct make-up lessons.
For students in these two schools who are scheduled to take their "O" Level Mother-Tongue oral examinations on July 2 and 3, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) will make arrangements for them to take the examinations at a later date.
As for Hai Sing Catholic School, a trainee teacher attached to the school tested positive for the H1N1 virus on June 27. He attended a staff seminar on the morning of June 25 and six staff who were in close contact have been asked to take Leave of Absence from June 26 to July 2.
As only a small percentage of the school staff is on Leave of Absence, the school will operate as usual and reopen on Monday, June 29.
- CNA/ir
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