I was a primary principal in Singapore up to March this year.

By then we had already been dealing with Covid-19 for almost two and a half months after it had officially “arrived” in the country on the weekend of 23 January, Chinese New Year to be precise.

This was the date when the first case in the city state had been identified. Arriving back in school after the long weekend, we were presented with a whole litany of checks and audits that needed to be carried out:

• Anyone having travelled away from Singapore over the previous 15 days had to fill in a travel declaration stating their destination, duration, etc. Anyone returning from mainland China was automatically notified of a 14-day Stay-at-Home Notice (SHN) - this was extended as the outbreak spread across the world.
• We were told that children attending school who were in those households also had to self-isolate for 14 days, even if they had not been abroad with their parent.
• Twice daily temperature checks for every person in the school were mandatory. Anyone with a temperature over 38.5C was immediately sent home.
• All extracurricular activity (internal and cross-school) was halted and groups over 30 (including staff) were banned - so all assemblies also stopped. Children ate lunch in their classrooms and had no outside break times.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but four days after the first reported case, Singapore was ready.

In the intervening period, we had a notification about preventing adults who were not associated with school on to the premises - this included parents.

Crucially, in mid-February, we had to produce a Continuity of Learning plan - to be sent to the Education Department - showing how we would ensure that learning would continue in the event of schools closing.

This meant, despite measures gradually having to be increased as the virus inevitably spread, school life went on almost normally until mid-April, when the second spike from the migrant worker population hit.

The key to this was that we were well-planned and prepared.

Coronavirus: The difference between school measures in Singapore and the UK

Contrast this with schools in England receiving no official guidance as to what to do until the notice of closure on 18 March, leaving two school days to sort out a plan for the following Monday.

I was aware of many friends and former colleagues in English schools who were left scrambling to try and get things sorted for the children in their care.

The subsequent weeks have proven no better: issues with organising meals for those children who are on free school meals, delayed decision making about examinations and grades, a whole month of closure going by before guidance for parents about how they should be conducting “home learning” appeared on the Department for Education website, and now the furore over whether it is safe to open in two weeks’ time.

None of it instils confidence that there is a joined-up approach between government departments.

It could be argued that a city state with 5.6 million people is easier to deal with than a population of 66 million.

However, the key was - and is - the preparedness. I saw first-hand the fear that SARS had placed into the community when this virus began, and that fuelled a coordinated response.

One government minister was appointed to directly oversee the coordination across all ministries alongside coordinated press and instructions from departments at the same time.

Sadly, as so often is the case in the UK, one department is saying one thing, while another suggests something different (the social distancing rules in workplaces as opposed to schools is a good example).

In normal times, this is just irritating, but in this situation it literally could be the difference between life and death.

Schools need reassurance

Everyone I have conversed with who works in a school wants to return - they just know it is not demonstrably safe right now.

Even if children are safer than adults, to pretend that they are educated in a vacuum is naive at best and, at worst, is knowingly placing the adults in danger.

Headteachers are always looking at the risks they must assess - state schools in Singapore are sending examination groups back this week.

The difference is they know it will be safe to return to almost normality soon - why?

A look at the Ministry of Health website will tell you. Every case since the start of this pandemic that has occurred in Singapore has been tested, tracked and isolated. In the UK numbers remain worryingly high, with tracking and isolating in its infancy. 

Winning the confidence of the school community requires clarity, transparency and demonstrable proof that all safety measures of test/track/isolate are in place.

Until then, trust will be lacking.

The author is UK-trained and has been a headteacher/principal in the UK and internationally for a number of years