Heads of schools told to speak to students about following COVID-safe measures outside school premises

Heads of schools have been told to talk to students about following COVID-safe measures outside the school premises following reports by Fijivillage of the widespread disregard of COVID protocols by students at the Suva Bus Stand yesterday.

Education Minister Premila Kumar says the issue was brought to their attention and they will be talking to the Police Commissioner for some assistance.

Kumar adds they have noticed that Police have been out in Suva and guiding students.

We asked the Minister about exploring the option of having more school buses for students as that would allow them to be monitored by prefects until they get dropped off and it would cut down the number of students crowding up at the bus stand.

In response, Kumar says she totally agrees with this.

She says this has to be a whole of society approach as we can all teach students about COVID-safe measures and also raise awareness.

Many students were seen not practicing COVID-safe protocols at the Suva Bus Stand yesterday.

We saw students from different schools standing close to each other and were not wearing masks.

They were also seen standing in crowds and there was no physical distancing while they were sitting in buses.

This is concerning as while these students may be vaccinated, they can still contract COVID-19 with the Ministry of Health already stating that based on what they are seeing overseas, we should expect a large number of cases and infections could also occur in vaccinated persons and those who have previously been infected with the Delta variant.

The Ministry of Health is urging people to always carry a well-fitted mask when they leave home, avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, maintain at least 2 metres of physical distancing from others when outside their homes and wash their hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.