Taking inspiration from the Phuket Sandbox; Thailand’s brand new on-island quarantine programme, the school sandbox pilot scheme will aim to deal with COVID instead of waiting and waiting. The programme plans to reopen 68 schools across the country. With the last two school years both being partially off-site, efforts to reopen are much appreciated by the community. Education Ministry spokeswoman, Kesthip Supawanich, has stated that 44 schools of the Private Education Commission, which is where ISB lies. Kesthip stated that there are three conditions that must be followed in order to participate in this programme. The reopened schools must be boarding schools (however education Minister Treenuch Thienthong has added that some private schools will also be included in the program), the learning and attending must be voluntary, and the readiness of the school must be pre approved according to the health measures put in place. Schools looking to be included in this programme must seek out approval from all parents of students that will participate. Schools must also seek approval from the provincial disease control committee to arrange isolation spaces as well as safety zones for students and school staff.

Schools wishing to partake in the programme will undergo inspections from the Education Ministry and Public Health ministry. They must also consistently report the situation on campus using the MOECOVID and Thai Stop Covid Plus apps. After students and teachers over 12 have been fully vaccinated, teaching will consist of a combination of both methods, on-site and online. With more and more vaccines becoming available and being issued, this shows huge potential for the future of reopening schools. In regard to next year, Supat Chmapathong, the permanent secretary for education, has taken it up with the Royal College of Pediatricians, the Disease Control Department and the Health Department. Supat discussed the situation of student vaccination and methods of teaching for semester two starting in January. Doctors have insisted that vaccinations are proven to be safe and the ministry of education is working on research to prove vaccine safety. Meanwhile the Health Department will prepare the arrangement for children. Student vaccination will be voluntary with the parents of the students deciding for themselves. However the ministry will advertise vaccine information, updates and news. This is vital as not all members of our community have the same stance on vaccination. This allows for parents to make their own decision whilst still being well informed about the situation at hand. At the end of the day, if all vaccination centres are properly equipped and trust is placed in the vaccines, the complete reopening of schools as they were may be possible in the second semester. Contrarily, the ministry will proceed with the School Sandbox programme.

When it comes to schools opening, there are many different opinions from the public. The main responses from the ISB community are that school should open at any means possible.”Real school learning is far more beneficial than online” Armaan Ali Khan, grade 10 student “Now that the population has begun getting more and more vaccinations, things should start heading back to normal” he says. It’s obvious that, even though some may have previously preferred online learning, the majority of students wish to return to on-site learning. Even past ISB students weigh in on the matter. Ex highschool student Salomon Garcia-Collazo says “Schools in the US are already opened, and the Covid regulations here are not even close to what it was like in Bangkok”. ISB has always had very good Covid protocol and upheld all the regulations, knowing that inspection results are bound to be positive.