The long wait is finally over for teachers, staff, and students in Beijing who have been required to wear masks for most of the past three years.
On Monday morning, Beijing authorities officially lifted the requirement for masks to be worn in schools, giving the school-going population the freedom to choose whether or not to wear masks on campus.
According to parents of both local and international schools across Beijing, the wearing of masks on school campuses is now a matter of personal preference.
Several international schools sent formal email notifications to parents this morning informing them of the new policy. Other sources have reported the same move in public schools – all of which finally returned to in-person class today after the extended Chinese New Year Holiday break.
This small but significant step forwards further demonstrates Beijing’s normalization of the Covid-19 situation. Since Covid hit the nation 3 years ago, the wearing of masks had been mandatory in all public spaces, including schools.
Teachers, staff and students alike were required to keep a mask on at all times on campus, which meant at least 6 – 8 hours of wearing a mask for the school-going population.
Many in the school community have commented on the difficulty of teaching and learning while wearing a mask. Communication between students and teachers can be difficult, as well as concentration and focus for students.
The enforcement of mask-wearing has been a low priority in most public spaces since local authorities dropped the Zero Covid policy in December last year. However, there has not been any official announcement regarding the matter. As of press time, there has been no official change in the policy requiring masks in public venues and on public transportation.
Images: Pexels
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