By Leow Si Wan

WITH just over a week before the June holidays end, schools are making preparations for students to attend lessons from home if the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak worsens.

For now, the Ministry of Education says that there is no need to extend the holidays or keep schools closed.

But teachers have begun gearing up for the possibility that they might have to conduct lessons and collect assignments over the Internet.

Ten primary and secondary schools and junior colleges told The Straits Times that they were putting their e-learning systems in place.

A junior college teacher said she had been tasked with uploading more than a month's worth of e-learning materials before school reopens on June 29.

More Singaporeans, including schoolchildren, are expected to return from overseas over the coming days as the mid-year holidays draw to a close.

On Wednesday, the Health Ministry said that Singapore could expect an increase in the number of imported H1N1 cases as people return from vacations in flu-affected countries.

On Wednesday, 17 new H1N1 patients were diagnosed here, all with travel histories to affected areas. Another 11 were diagnosed yesterday.

The Education Ministry said that schools would be ready to carry out home-based learning if they had to.

Schools have a variety of ways for children to learn via the Internet, such as online weekly lesson plans, e-portals to track learning and allow students to submit assignments, as well as other learning materials.

Said a junior college vice-principal: 'Our e-learning portal is in place and teachers have prepared e-materials. Students have also been familiarised with the use of our e-portal.'

Another JC vice-principal said the college had enough resources for one or two weeks of home-based learning, while a secondary school principal said teachers were preparing for 'every possible scenario' to conduct e-learning for as long as needed.

An Education Ministry spokesman said the ministry was monitoring the H1N1 situation in schools and the general community carefully.

It asked parents to monitor their children and not send them to school if they were sick, but to seek medical attention.

Most of the 15 parents interviewed by The Straits Times did not think it necessary to keep schools closed.

Said Mrs Evelyn Lai, 40, a homemaker and mother of three children, aged two to 10: 'The H1N1 fatality is quite low, and it's like a seasonal flu. I don't think it's necessary to go so far as to extend the holidays for this.'

Disagreeing, a 44-year-old housewife with a 13-year-old son felt that the holidays should be extended just to stay on the safe side.

Mrs Yenny Ong said: 'We need to break the chain of transmission, because if it happens in schools it'll spread very fast.

'What if a student has underlying diseases like asthma or lung disease? He'll be more at risk if he gets the virus.'

Additional reporting by Cheryl Ong

This article was first published in The Straits Times.