By Leow Si Wan

TEACHERS at Nan Hua Primary are ready for work on Monday to make sure that about 25 pupils who will not return to school will not be left behind.

That is the number the school reckons would have returned from flu-stricken areas on and after June 22, according to travel declaration forms handed in before the mid-year holidays.

They will be given seven days leave of absence, as announced by the Education Ministry, in an effort to slow down the transmission of the H1N1 virus.

The pupils will not be taking it easy at home. They will need to log on daily to the school's e-learning portal and blog to complete multiple-choice assignments and read Chinese poems, idioms and passages.

Said Madam Jessie Ang, head of the mother tongue department: 'The teachers have been busy preparing. We will meet on Friday to approve materials and come up with clear instructions for the kids so they know what to do.

'The uploading will be completed over the weekend so everything will be in place on Monday.'

At least 17 primary and secondary schools, and junior colleges The Straits Times spoke to said they have been gearing up for home-based learning since the Sars crisis in 2003.

They can vary the combination of approaches and channels to take, according to the age and profile of their students.

For students who do not own computers or have Internet access, schools will either deliver materials through snail mail, or lend them laptops.

For e-learning, teachers can upload reading materials or assignments onto an e-portal for students to either revise or learn a new topic. Hyperlinks to learning websites can also be shared.

Students then access the portal based on schedules which stagger log-in times so the system will not crash. They submit their assignments online and their log-ins are tracked.

Grading for certain assignments such as multiple-choice questions is automatic while teachers will mark open-ended responses like essays. Students can clarify doubts with teachers through e-mail or instant messaging services.

To familiarise staff and students with home-based learning, schools have been organising 'e-learning days' every year, where students work from home, doing quizzes and assignments online.

Besides using the e-portal which has a limited bandwidth, schools such as Junyuan Secondary are considering new avenues like Google Documents and Yahoo to host lesson packages online.

Nanyang Primary will send its materials to Primary 1 pupils by post.

The school spokesman said the feedback from its IT heads was that the youngest pupils were not ready to work online.

'We have prepared thousands of envelopes and stamps...We even advised the woman who does the photocopying not to take leave next week,' the spokesman said.

Schools are well aware that home-based learning cannot replace learning in schools.

Mr Michael Lau, vice-principal of Nan Hua High School, said that e-learning cannot complement the curriculum fully and there will be a need to catch up once school resumes.

Administrative executive Jasmine Chia, a mother of three school-going children, agreed, saying: 'Not all parents are computer-literate or can supervise their children at home the whole day.

'Children need someone to guide them or they can't focus when they use the computer.'

What schools are doing

SCHOOLS across the island are relooking their systems in an effort to minimise the chances of an outbreak of H1N1. Among the measures taken:

NO MOVING ABOUT

Presbyterian High School will suspend its system of students moving from class to class depending on the subjects they take.

Instead, each class will have lessons in a designated classroom.

A spokesman said this will be done for the first week after school reopens, and the situation will be monitored after that.

NO PASSING-OUT PARADE

Peirce Secondary School has postponed a combined bands passing-out parade involving four schools.

Principal Sim Chong Boon said: 'The parade was supposed to take place on Saturday, but we will observe the situation and postpone it until further notice.'

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL'S E-LEARNING SYSTEM

The Australian International School has an online learning system that was tested last term.

All students can access the system from home, or any computer.

If children are quarantined, teachers will assign them work online until they can return to school.

RECORDS VIA SMS

All staff and students of the National University of Singapore will have to record their temperature readings online or via SMS.

Students scheduled to travel for official programmes have an option to change their minds. As a precautionary measure, health and safety briefings will be conducted for students headed to other countries.

Arrangements are also being made for students to be equipped with a personal thermometer, as well as N95 and three-ply masks.

NO CLASSES FOR A WEEK

Nanyang Polytechnic will conduct an e-learning exercise for all students when term begins next week, to test its preparedness in case someone comes down with the H1N1 virus.

Students have been advised to stay away from school next week.

They will have their lessons online and can reach lecturers by e-mail or telephone. Normal lessons will resume on July 6.

CLASSROOMS CLOSED

Republic Polytechnic has put some students and teachers on a seven-day leave of absence after two students were infected with H1N1.

Their classmates and teachers have been told to stay away.

Three classrooms that the affected students were in have been closed. They will be disinfected and will reopen in seven days.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.