Huangpu District Education Bureau held a video conference of the district education system on the morning of May 27 to communicate major arrangements regarding the reopening of secondary schools (vocational schools) in the district. All members of the reopening task force of Huangpu District Education Bureau and all administrators of secondary  schools  (vocational  schools)  and  extracurricular  training  institutions attended the conference, chaired by Chen Liang, Secretary of Huangpu District Party Committee for Education Work.

Secretary Chen Liang pointed out at the conference that the reopening announcements made by the city on the 26th presented a pressing task requiring all schools to stay laser-focused on high alert and be ready to work in a highly responsible manner. The schools were instructed to carry out work in the best interest of the students and go all out to ensure the success of reopening, including: first, to take greater responsibility to ensure preparations are being properly made for reopening; second, to demonstrate ownership by pinpointing and executing detailed requirements for all aspects of the reopening work; and third, to secure the bottom line by ensuring smooth and orderly execution of back-to-school plans.

Guo Jinhua, Director of Huangpu District Education Bureau, put forth a three-point requirement for strengthening back-to-school preparations.

First, to raise awareness, assign responsibilities and strengthen the mechanisms for back-to-school work. All schools should raise awareness of risk exposure, work to secure the bottom line and form leadership team and task forces for reopening-related pandemic control  efforts.  School-based  action  plans  (including  contingency plans) should be put in place and coordination with local community, police stations and community hospitals shall be established.

Second, to take  a  stringent  and  scientific  approach  to  planning  and  move  fast  to implement preparatory work for reopening in ten major aspects, including overall campus  disinfection  and  safety  inspection,  information  screening  and  staff health management, on-campus prevention and control setup and equipment deployment, design   for    campus    grid   management,    optimization    of   teaching   plans    and organizational  efforts,  availability  of  closed-loop  transportation,  stockpiling,  food safety improvement, staff training and drills, and inspection for pandemic response readiness, putting in place standard processes and controls against possible breaches.

Third, to stay people-oriented, step up efforts to provide support based on individual needs  and  use  education  as  an  effective  tool  for  health  management  and  disease prevention. All schools should make psychological interventions a part of the overall plan for pandemic prevention and control, to be carried out with precision on targeted groups  in  need.  School-home  communication  and  coordination  should  also  be

strengthened to provide meaningful support to students both at school and back home.

At  the  meeting,  Deputy  Director  Yang  Yan  unpacked  the  district’s  plan  for back-to-school pandemic prevention and control both before and after the reopening and communicated  specific work requirements in this regard. Deputy Director Yu Weiyong  stressed the priorities  of work related to  education  and teaching  in  four major  areas  including  class  management,  academic  affairs  management,   student management and teacher management.