Thailand-

The following is our weekly feature in which we ask our readers a news topical question and get their insight and opinions. We then share their feedback a week later and pick a variety of diverse and interesting responses.

This week, we want to ask our readers the following question, prompted by many letters and information given to TPN media about schools and frustration from parents:

Attention Parents/Teachers-Has YOUR school returned to in-person learning? What are the rules? Are you happy with them?

Some context around this question:

We have had many parents message us over the past two weeks about their frustration about returning to school for students. Schools are not universally back in session for in-person learning yet and many schools and students are still learning from home. (Or not at all, in some cases.)

In Pattaya, public schools have not officially begun yet, although many private and international schools have. However, the rules vary, thus why we want to hear from parents and teachers. Due to Thailand’s slander and libel laws, we are happy to leave your name out or the school’s name out of the overall information provided in this talkback.

We have heard about some schools where even parents are required to do ATK testing when picking up students, or kids forced to eat alone without any friends, or suspension on all playgrounds, sports, and group activities. We have even heard that some students will return to classrooms but teachers who are not fully vaccinated will teach virtually and not be in the classroom. This is from an e-mail, however, and we want to hear directly from parents and teachers.

Are the rules ok with you? Are they too much? Are they too little? Is your school back to session or not? Did you think online learning was worthwhile or not? We want to hear from you, as our editorial staff strongly believes that getting children back in school is important, especially after seven months of closures in the Pattaya area alone. (At least for in-person learning)

We look forward to hearing from you! Tell us on our social media channels, in the comments below, or if you prefer your comment to be private mail us at Pattayanewseditor@gmail.com. We will publish the results and select a variety of diverse responses early next week, as always!