Pattaya City announces continued postponement of public in-person school openings, hoping for mid August but no guarantees

Pattaya, Thailand-

  A spokesman for the Pattaya City Education Bureau announced this afternoon, Monday, July 19th, 2021, continued postponement of the scheduled public school semester for in-school learning.

Unfortunately, according to Mr. Nopsitcha Na Nakorn, Acting Director of the Pattaya City Education Bureau, Pattaya City had a meeting with the board of directors, the Chonburi Department of Public Health, city officials, and other relevant agencies and came to the conclusion that the current situation with Covid-19 in Chonburi and Pattaya would not be resolved well-enough to resume school at this time and will as a preliminary measure look towards mid-August, specifically around the 16th.

This is not, however, a guarantee that school will resume on this date, cautioned Nopsitcha, stating that it will depend greatly on the overall situation in Pattaya.

Due to Chonburi becoming a maximum control zone effective tomorrow, July 20th, 2021, and hundreds of daily cases, the board concluded that they could not estimate exactly when school could resume but would “monitor the situation.”

Nopsitcha stressed that Pattaya was doing its best to teach children online that were eligible or through other remote systems, such as television, but admitted that in-person learning was more valuable for students and teachers and that many students did not have the tools (or income to purchase the needed tools, like a computer) to learn remotely from their home. For some students, he said they were being given workbooks to learn from home if they did not have computers but also admitted that these were just temporary measures until they could resume proper schooling safely.

Nopsitcha also stated that Pattaya City was helping parents with financial issues by reimbursing books, supplies, clothing, and even school lunches during the period of uncertain closures of in-person schools.

  TPN notes some parents have been complaining to local schools about wanting discounts on school fees in general, as seen here.

Schools have now been closed for roughly several months due to Covid-19 and a previous school break around Songkran. Unfortunately, as Thailand considers schools “high-risk” unlike many western countries who do everything in their power to open schools, they are often the first to close and last to open, similar to entertainment venues.  Schools are not closed nationwide in Thailand but are provincial decisions in conjunction with the Center for Covid-19 situation Administration.

International schools may have different programs, notes TPN media, but the governor has currently closed all in-person learning in the province except for certain special needs or live-in children.