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BY SHREE ANN MATHAVAN
DON'T leave the class unless it's for a canteen or loo break.
Eat only in designated canteens.
Paste coloured stickers on your shirts.
And, for goodness' sake, don't loiter around after school.
Sensible measures to combat the H1N1 virus?
Or rules worthy of a bootcamp?
Some Republic Polytechnic students used to a freer campus are not taking the new regimen sitting down.
Casually loitering in the hallways or lunching with schoolmates from different years has become a thing of the past for students here.
Since 2 Jul, the polytechnic, which has 109 H1N1 cases as of 10 Jul - introduced several new measures to 'minimise widespread intermingling' among its 12,000 students.
Twice-daily breaks have been reduced from 45 minutes to 30 minutes, and from 11/2 hours to 45 minutes.
Every morning, students and staff get various coloured stickers that identify which of the three food courts they can dine at that day.
Students from different years also end their school day at different times and must leave the campus immediately.
Given that the virus is already endemic in several countries, are these measures a tad over the top? The school doesn't think so.
Some students The New Paper spoke to, however, were unhappy.
They were informed of the measures earlier this month via e-mails from the school.
Miss Vivian Lwa, 20, a third-year supply chain management student said: 'My friends and I feel like we are being treated like prisoners.' Miss Lwa also questioned the effectiveness of the measures.
For instance, she said she heard of some students swapping coloured stickers with each other to eat at different canteens.
Mr Ben Cai, 20, a third-year business information systems student, felt that staggering break times is 'a good move' to prevent the spread of the virus.
However, he added: 'Many students are affected by these measures because, apart from our breaks, we are not allowed the leave the classrooms.
'Many of us feel like caged birds. It's hard to adjust.'
Rather be home
Another Republic Polytechnic student, Mr Kenneth Thexerira, 21, a third-year interactive and digital media student noted: 'I'd rather be home safe than have such measures implemented.
'Restricting our movements doesn't give us peace of mind. There's a sense of fear and it affects our morale instead.'
Instead, he felt what the school should have done after H1N1 cases were confirmed was to implement a full quarantine across all levels.
Republic Polytechnic had implemented a seven- day quarantine for 4,500 students - mostly first-years - slightly over two weeks ago.
But this drew flak from more than 2,000 students, who signed an online petition saying that all levels should have been granted leave, not just the first-years.
While Mr Thexerira said he understood the school had good intentions, these new measures seem like a 'knee-jerk reaction'.
Miss Lwa agreed: 'If the school felt there wasn't a need to quarantine everyone, they shouldn't now suddenly restrict us from going here and there.'
But other students like Mr Chad Lester Chen, 18, a second-year industrial and operations management student, staunchly supported the latest measures.
He said: 'Segregation is effective because it helps to control the spread of the virus and minimises risk.
'It might cause unhappiness among students, but it does work.'
He added that he also preferred these measures to stopping school altogether.
'It's less disruptive this way,' he said.
Miss Yuki Yap, 19, a second-year interactive and digital media student also applauded the school's efforts.
She acknowledged: 'I understand that the school just wants to take preventive measures, so I think the school's intentions are good.'
However, she, too, questioned the effectiveness of segregation measures.
For instance, she pointed out that there were several common areas, like the school's main entrance and bus stop, where students would still mingle.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
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