JEDDAH/MAKKAH: Swine flu was the day’s main topic as a number of middle and high schools opened on Saturday after a short postponement.
Many students were accompanied by their parents who came to see what measures had been taken by the schools to protect their children.
Some students wore masks while others made use of special napkins and anti-bacterial hand wash.
There were flyers and signs on the walls informing students how swine flu could be prevented and the precautions that need to be taken.
The general manager of boys’ education in Baha, Saeed bin Muhammad, toured schools to assess health units. He said that classes had started on time and that students had been given books.
The general managers of girls’ education and boys’ education in Al-Jouf, Falah bin Khalaf and Matar Al-Zahrani, said that preparations had been made in the region and that teachers had been instructed in assisting their students to prevent swine flu.
In Tabuk, more than 100,000 middle and high school students returned to classes.
All schools were fully ready to combat swine flu and equipped with clinics and medical equipment.
The general manager of education in Tabuk, Muhammad Al-Luhaidan, said that precautionary measures had been taken in the schools to combat swine flu.
More than 57,000 students in 242 middle and high schools in the General Administration of Education in Makkah were in class on the first day of school.
Bakr Basfar, director general of education in Makkah visited a number of schools on Saturday. He reviewed preparations taken by schools to prevent swine flu and actions to be taken in the event of an outbreak of the disease.
Basfar said that committees had been formed in cooperation with the Department of Health Affairs to raise awareness of the prevention and treatment of swine flu.
He added that all employees working in school health units, as well as 10,000 teachers, had been trained in how to prevent swine flu and how to isolate sick students.
Middle and high schools in Dammam and the Eastern Province experienced a number of absences because of many parents’ fears of swine flu.
Some parents said that they would keep their children home for a week just to see if the schools’ precautionary measures were working. The parents agreed that the safety of their children was the most important thing, with education coming second.
Schools in Dammam have set aside rooms for isolating students diagnosed with swine flu. Teachers have been informed through health awareness conferences how to prevent the disease and how to deal with it if one is infected.
