International Maarif Schools of Tunisia 2

Table of Content

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3

Committee Members …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

How COVID-19 Spread Facts………………………………………………………………………………………………….……5

1 Our School

1.1 instructions to our teachers…………………………………………………………………………………………………..8

1.2 instructions to our students………………………………………………………………………………………….……….9

1.3 instructions to parents.....…………………………………………………………………………………..…………………10

1.2 instructions to our cleaner stuff………………………………………………………………………………………….…10

1.5 Emergency Cases……………….………………………………………………………………………………………….………10

2 Our Premises

2.1 School Bus…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

2.2 School Entrance, Security, Reception Area……………………………………………………………………………12

2.3 Waiting Room / Lobby………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

2.4 Classrooms and Study Halls………………………………………………………………………………………………….13

2.5 Workshops / Labs…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13

2.6 Teachers' Room……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13

2.7 Offices (Administrative Rooms, Guidance Service etc.)………………………………………………………..14

2.8 Break Time and Outside area………………………………………………………………… ……………………………14

2.9 Canteen, Vending Machines…………………………………………………………………………………………………14

2.10 Toilets and Sinks………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..15

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Introduction

The purpose of this guideline is to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19 within our school. This guidance is intended to aid school administrators as they consider how to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of students, teachers, other school staff, their families, and communities.

It is critical that administration engages and encourages everyone in INTERNATIONAL MAARIF SCHOOLS OF TUNISIA to practice preventive behaviours. These are the most important actions that will support schools’ safe reopening and will help them stay open. Implementing multiple Covid-19 mitigation strategies like social distancing, cloth face coverings and hand hygiene are the basic instructions that everyone should apply in our school.

All teachers must be responsible to check and educate our students about the seriousness of the pandemic around the world. They must get used to live with it and prevent it’s spreading by being aware and responsible.

Our school is prepared for COVID-19 cases and exposure to occur in the premises. Collaborating with Tunis ministry of health will continue to be important once students are back to school, as they can provide regular updates about the status of COVID-19 in the country and help support and maintain the health and wellbeing of students, teachers, and staff.

All school members including staff and students need to consider the best way to decrease the spread of COVID-19 and lower the impact in our workplace. Also Parents must support the school to apply the safety rules to protect and create a healthy environment both at school and at home.

✓ Prevent and reduce transmission among staff and students ✓ Maintain healthy business operations, and ✓ Maintain a healthy work / home environment.

As a staff member in Maarif School, the COVID-19 guidelines, response, and control plans should be always implemented and updated as necessary:

✓ Delegate job tasks and responsibilities to our school members ✓ Identifies all areas in school with potential exposures to COVID-19, and ✓ Includes control measures to eliminate or reduce such exposures.

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International Maarif School COVID-19 PREVENTION COMMITTEE

1_ Principal: Mr Sebahattin

2_Nurse: Ms Sirine Chabir

3_Vice Principal: Ms Rahma hachemi

4_Bilogy/Chemistry Teacher: Mr Ayoub Abdalla

5_Head of Science department: Mr Burhan Tuna - Student Supervisor

6_Director: Mr Mahmoud Tlili

7_Public Relations (PR): Ms Rym Oueslati

How COVID-19 Spreads

COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly through close contact from person-to-person. Some

people without symptoms may be able to spread the virus. We are still learning about how

the virus spreads and the severity of illness it causes.

❖ Person-to-person spread

✓ Between people who are in close contact with one another (within one meter).

✓ Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or

talks.

✓ These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly

be inhaled into the lungs.

✓ People who are not showing symptoms may spread COVID-19.

❖ The virus may be spread in other ways

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object

that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their

eyes.

❖ Spread between animals and people

✓ At this time, the risk of COVID-19 spreading from animals to people is considered to

be low.

✓ It appears that the virus that causes COVID-19 can spread from people to animals in

some situations. CDC is aware of a small number of pets worldwide, including cats

and dogs, reported to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, mostly after

close contact with people with COVID-19.

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How can the spread of COVID-19 be slowed down or prevented?

As with other respiratory infections like the flu or the common cold, public health measures are critical to slow the spread of illnesses. Public health measures are everyday preventive actions that include:

✓ Staying home when sick. ✓ Covering mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue when coughing or sneezing. ✓ Dispose of used tissue immediately. ✓ Washing hands often with soap and water; and ✓ Cleaning frequently touched surfaces and objects.

COVID-19 Symptoms

✓ Fever ✓ Dry cough ✓ Tiredness

✓ Sneezing ✓ Belly pain. ✓ Vomiting or diarrhea. ✓ Neck pain.

✓ Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath ✓ Chest pain or pressure

What we need to know when we return back to school

✓ In general, the more closely you interact with others and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread.

✓ If you return to work, continue to protect yourself by practicing everyday preventive actions.

✓ Keep these items on hand when returning to work: a mask, tissues, and hand

sanitizer.

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Our School

1.1 instructions to our teachers

Below are instructions on how to engage students of different ages on preventing and

controlling the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses. Activities should be contextualized

further based on the specific needs of the children (language, ability, gender, etc.).

General Instructions

✓ Wear masks in situations where a distance of at least one meter cannot be guaranteed in the common areas of the school, in particular the teachers' rooms.

✓ Social distance of one meter away must be respected at all times. ✓ Wash and disinfect your hands before and after entering a classroom. ✓ Wash and disinfect hands should be promoted before and after touching shared

equipment.

Primary School

✓ Focus on good health behaviors, such as covering coughs and sneezes with the elbow

and washing hands frequently

✓ Practice washing hands while singing a song for at least 20-second duration.

✓ Develop a way to track hand washing and reward for frequent/timely hand washing.

✓ Introduce the concept of social distancing (standing further away from friends, avoiding

large crowds, not touching people if you don’t need to, etc.).

✓ Have children sit further apart from one another, have them practice stretching their

arms out or ‘flap their wings’, they should keep enough space to not touch their friends.

✓ Use puppets or dolls to demonstrate symptoms (sneezing, coughing, fever) and what to

do if they feel sick (i.e. their head hurts, their stomach hurts, they feel hot or extra tired)

and how to comfort someone who is sick (cultivating empathy and safe caring behaviors)

✓ Give children’s advices on how to keep themselves and others safe. ✓ Help children understand the basic concepts of disease prevention and control. Use

exercises that demonstrate how germs can spread. For example, by putting colored water in a spray bottle and spraying over a piece of white paper. Observe how far the droplets travel.

✓ Make sure to listen to children’s concerns and answer their questions in an age-appropriate manner; don’t overwhelm them with too much information.

✓ Encourage them to express and communicate their feelings. Discuss the different reactions they may experience and explain that these are normal reactions to an abnormal situation.

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Secondary School

✓ Make sure to listen to students’ concerns and answer their questions. ✓ Introduce the concept of social distancing (standing further away from friends, avoiding

large crowds, not touching people if you don’t need to, etc.). ✓ Focus on good health behaviors, such as covering coughs and sneezes with the elbow

and washing hands. ✓ Emphasize that students can do a lot to keep themselves and others safe. ✓ Remind students that they can model healthy behaviors for their families ✓ Discuss the different reactions they may experience and explain these are normal

reactions to an abnormal situation. Encourage them to express and communicate their feelings

✓ Have students make their own Public Service Announcements through school announcements, posters, social media, radio or even local TV broadcasting

✓ Incorporate relevant health education into other subjects ✓ Science can cover the study of viruses, disease transmission and the importance of

vaccinations ✓ Social studies can focus on the history of pandemics and evolution of policies on public

health and safety ✓ Media literacy lessons can empower students to be critical thinkers and makers, effective

communicators and active citizens

1.2 instructions to our students

Students should be responsible and respect the safety rules suggested below:

✓ They must wear a protective mask, indoor and outdoor, when traveling as well as in class when the distance of one meter cannot be guaranteed and if they are placed face-to-face or side-by-side.

✓ Wash or sanitize their hands before entering classrooms. ✓ Wash and disinfect their hands before and after touching shared equipment. ✓ Avoid touching each other’s masks. ✓ Keep the safety distance (following the safety distancing stickers). ✓ If they feel any symptom of the COVID-19 they should inform straight away the

administration (the nurse). ✓ If they notice any symptom of COVID-19 on one of their friend’s they must inform the

administration (the nurse).

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1.3 Instructions to Parents

When preparing to go back to school, regular communication should be used to update students and families about academic standards, transportation services, meal program services, and access to other school-based essential services that students and families rely on.

This should include:

✓ Updates about the status of COVID-19 in the school and community ✓ Notification when there is COVID-19 case in the school (when communicating about

the health status of students, schools should take care to avoid disclosing personally identifiable information).

✓ Explanation of what parents, students, teachers, and staff can expect when returning to school; in particular, communicating about:

✓ The importance of staying home when sick and staying home to monitor symptoms if close contact occurred with a person who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2

✓ Considerations for COVID-19 symptom screenings ✓ Types of social distancing measures being implemented ✓ Everyday healthy hygiene practices that will be implemented upon reopening (e.g.,

students, teachers, staff staying home when sick, hand hygiene, cleaning frequently touched surfaces)

✓ Actions being taken to prevent Covid-19 transmission in buses, school building and facilities

1.4 Instructions to our Cleaning Stuff ✓ Classrooms must be sanitized at the start of every school day. ✓ Disinfect high-touch surfaces: Surfaces that are used frequently, door handles, sinks and

faucet handles, etc., are cleaned and disinfected at least twice and as often as possible. ✓ School hallways must be cleaned and disinfected after each break. ✓ Bathrooms, in particular, must be cleaned and disinfected every 3 hours. ✓ Shared equipment including computer equipment, keyboards, art supplies, and play or

gym equipment should also be disinfected after and before usage.

1.5 Emergency Cases In case of emergency the school nurse must measure the temperature for any student or

staff member who might be infected during the school day and quarantine the suspected

case in an identified isolated area in the school premises. After that the school nurse must

contact the closet hospital in the area. Each teacher is responsible to observe the

students and in case they noticed any covid-19 symptom, he/she must inform the nurse

immediately.

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Our Premises

2.1 School Bus

✓ Transportation Company cleans all buses before and after each trip, as well as at night. o Cleaning consists of wiping down with disinfectant all high-touch areas, such as handrails,

tops and sides of bus seats, lowered windows, and driver controls. o This disinfection process consists of using a conventional spray device disbursing

disinfectant throughout the entire bus at the end of each day. ✓ Drivers and the bus assistants must wear facemasks while loading and unloading students. ✓ All students and all bus monitors must wear a mask at all times on the bus. ✓ If a student does not have a mask, the bus assistant must provide him/her a single-use

mask. ✓ Students sit one per seat; siblings can sit next to each other’s. ✓ Students must load from the back seats of the bus to the front. ✓ Students keep all belongings to themselves and not to share any items with other students. ✓ Windows must be opened one notch to facilitate airflow through the bus.

2.2 School Entrance, Security, Reception Area

✓ Parents aren’t allowed to enter the school / garden. ✓ Parents are not allowed to pass the school main gate. ✓ Visitors must get permission from the administration to get in the school one by one. ✓ The security must disinfect the visitor badge in accordance with cleaning / disinfection plans

/ programs. ✓ Ensure that materials such as wireless / telephones used jointly by security personnel during

shift changes are properly disinfected before every shift. ✓ Must provide PPE (Personal protective equipment) for security / consultation personnel and

alcohol-based hand sanitizer must be available. ✓ Check the students and all the staff ‘s temperature. ✓ Disinfect the schoolbags using disinfecting sprayers. ✓ Disinfect shoes using disinfecting mat.

2.3 Waiting Room / Lobby ✓ Keep the waiting room / lobby area clean and tidy all day. ✓ Must arrange the seating a in a way to maintain social distance between people, if possible. ✓ Clean the entire area including the furniture in the morning and after each break. ✓ Provide Alcohol-based hand sanitizer when necessary to all stuff, student and visitors.

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2.4 Classrooms and Study Halls

✓ Clean and disinfect the classrooms in accordance with the cleaning / disinfection plans / programs.

✓ Hang posters on the boards, screens and common areas in classrooms to raise awareness and awareness of hygiene and sanitation.

✓ Disinfect commonly used equipment and cabinets as regularly as possible. ✓ Establish and implement Hygiene and sanitation programs according to their criteria. ✓ Place the teacher’s desk 1 meter away from student’s desks. ✓ Each student must respect the organization of the classroom

✓ One student per desk ✓ Students' desks stay in the same place without changing the classroom layout. ✓ When the distance of one meter cannot be guaranteed and if the students are placed face-

to-face or side-by-side they must wear the protective mask ✓ Ventilate the classrooms every three hours at least 10 to 15 minutes each day. ✓ Filter cleaning, maintenance and controls of the ventilation systems of the offices should be

done weekly.

2.5 Workshops / Labs

✓ Create and implement Hygiene and sanitation programs according to criteria such as usage conditions, frequency of use and number of users for common contact surfaces (workbenches, test tables, laboratory materials, hand tools, etc.) in the work area.

✓ Ventilate the room every three hours at least 10 to 15 minutes each day. ✓ Filter cleaning, maintenance and controls of the ventilation systems of the offices should be

done weekly. ✓ Hang posters on panels, screens and common areas in workshops and laboratories to

increase awareness. ✓ Disinfect common equipment and work areas before and after each use. ✓ Must not use the shower and sinks in the work area of workshops and laboratories for

personal cleaning.

2.6 Teachers' Room/Meetings

✓ Arrange the layout of the room by paying attention to the social distance rule. ✓ Ventilate the room every three hours at least 10 to 15 minutes each day. ✓ Filter cleaning, maintenance and controls of the ventilation systems of the offices should be

done weekly. ✓ Ensure the minimum usage of the shared equipment (computer, desks, pens…) in the

teacher’s room and in case they were used they must disinfect it and clean it carefully. ✓ Must not accept guests and visitors in the teacher's room. ✓ Alcohol-based hand sanitizer in the room can be opened and closed without touching the

hand, pedal, sensor, etc. ✓ Provide waste boxes and follow general hygiene rules. If there is a teakettle we must use

plastic cups. ✓ Arrange the meeting in the canteen and divide the team into two groups, or an online

meeting.

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2.7 Offices (Administrative Rooms, Guidance Service etc.)

✓ If possible, arrange the layout of the room by paying attention to the social distance rule. ✓ Ventilate the room every three hours at least 10 to 15 minutes each day. ✓ Filter cleaning, maintenance and controls of the ventilation systems of the offices should be

done weekly. ✓ Ensure that office supplies (computer keyboard, mouse, phone, pen, eraser, etc.) are not

shared. ✓ Disinfect common materials in accordance with cleaning / disinfection plans / programs.

2.8 Break Time and Outside area Enforcing physical distancing in an outside playground is difficult and may not be the most effective method of spreading.

✓ Limit the size of groups participating in playground time. ✓ Teachers must create individual games to the students or activities that promote social

distance. ✓ During the break students must respect the social distance rules (no kissing, no hugging and

no snacks sharing). ✓ Students must use the transparent safety resistant full-face mask outside during the break

✓ Shared playground equipment must be cleaned and disinfected after each break. ✓ Teachers must supervise the students if they are following the safety rules.

2.9 Canteen, Vending Machines

School meals play an important part in addressing food security for children and teenagers, as was observed in the early stages of the pandemic:

✓ Canteen / cafeteria staff must strictly adhere to personal hygiene rules (frequent hand washing, cough / sneezing etiquette).

✓ The staff must use job-specific PPE (mask, cap, gloves, etc.). ✓ Provide alcohol-based hand sanitizer at the entrances of cafeterias. ✓ Always remind everyone to maintain hand hygiene through pre- and post-meal hand

washing (warning signs / posters etc. placed at the entrance and at appropriate points are required, but often not sufficient).

✓ Encourage children and adults to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before and after eating.

✓ Clean and disinfect buffet surfaces after and before using it. Ensure that meal cutlery in disposable packages are presented to the service with hygienic precautions such as paper pocket packages or disposable products.

✓ In the canteen students and all the staff must use plastic table sets (forks, knives, spoons, cups and even the trays).

✓ The water dispensers, glasses and vending machines are not available; each student must bring his own water bottle.

✓ Ventilate the canteen every three hours at least 10 to 15 minutes each day. ✓ Filter cleaning, maintenance and controls of the ventilation systems of the offices should be

done weekly. ✓ Where catering is outsourced, it should preferably be provided from health and hygiene

certified organizations. If possible, on-site inspection of the supplier can be performed.

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✓ Keep all areas involved clean and tidy. Seating arrangement in dining halls should be designed in accordance with social distance rules.

✓ Create separate lunch periods to minimize the number of students in the canteen at one time, take the students for lunch by the group so the canteen won't be crowded.

✓ Respect the safety distancing following the stickers on the ground.

2.10 Toilets and Sinks

✓ Must clean and disinfect all surfaces, including door, door handles and toilets with a suitable detergent / disinfectant every 3 hours.

✓ Provide taps without hand contact. ✓ Place posters / warning signs inside the toilets to remind students and staff to wash their

hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds each time. ✓ Place pedal bins close to the exit, In order to facilitate staff and students to dispose of paper

towels and similar wastes. Avoid using hand dryer devices if possible. ✓ Ventilate toilets every three hours at least 10 to 15 minutes each day.

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