Jakarta's schools taking precautions against SARS

Jakarta's schools taking precautions against SARS

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of local schools in Jakarta are taking precautions
against the possibility of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) transmission in the classroom following government
warnings about the deadly disease.

Students at the Ricci Catholic High School on Jl. Kemenangan,
West Jakarta, were told to start wearing protective masks on
Monday.

"We were asked to bring masks to school on Monday. Our
teachers said that they would also wear them," said a third grade
student, adding that some kindergarten students in the same
school complex had started wearing masks last weekend.

For financial reasons, her mother had bought her two masks at
Rp 2,000 each in a nearby pharmacy instead of the N-95 type
recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which cost Rp
35,000 each.

Students at the other Ricci Catholic School in Pondok Aren,
South Jakarta, however, had not yet been asked to wear masks.
"School will go ahead just as normal," said Martha, the mother of
a student.

The St. Theresia Schools, which includes schools all the way
up from kindergarten to high school on Jl. Gereja Theresia,
Central Jakarta, issued a warning letter to parents on Friday
regarding the dangers of atypical pneumonia.

"The letter informed parents to build up the resistance of
their children and if a student had a fever, not to send the
child to school," one of the parents said.

Meanwhile, other schools were carrying on with their normal
activities. Most high school students are now facing preparatory
tests for their final examinations, which will be held next
month.

The Harapan Ibu Junior High School in Pondok Pinang, South
Jakarta, SMU 70 State High School in Bulungan, also South
Jakarta, a Christian high school run by the BPK Penabur
association, the SMUK V School in Kelapa Gading, and the Tiara
Bangsa School in Cibubur, East Jakarta, will all be holding
classes as normal, with students not being asked to wear masks so
far.

The Jakarta health agency had earlier issued a directive on
SARS, ordering all hospitals, clinics, hotels, air and sea
transportation operators, as well as schools, to be on the alert
for the spread of the disease.

"All school principals and teachers should help inform
(students) in the school, especially those who have just returned
from or are planning to travel to countries suffering from the
epidemic, about the transmission of SARS and how to prevent it,"
agency head A. Chalik Masulili said in the directive.

Most international schools here are operating as usual with
the staff keeping in touch with the medical authorities. Only the
Singapore International School (SIS) has been closed following
advice from the Singaporean Ministry of Education.

In Singapore, schools have been shut since March 27 but are
due to reopen in stages over the next two weeks.