AOb: 'Specialist must check ventilation systems'
Schools themselves have to check whether their ventilation system complies with the Building Decree, it became clear today during a specially inserted corona debate in the Lower House. “This advice is far too informal”, responds AObdriver Jelmer Evers.
image: House of Representatives
With the start of the new school year in sight, the to care about the health risks in schools. 'There must be adequate answers quickly so that education can start the new school year with confidence,' wrote the AOb earlier this week in a brief to the House of Representatives. Today there was an emergency debate in which concerns were mainly expressed about ventilation systems in schools. “Provide a plan or quality mark for the correct ventilation of interior spaces”, PVV party leader Geert Wilders called on.
RIVM director Jaap van Dissel emphasized last Tuesday, during a briefing in the House of Representatives, that schools must comply with the Building Decree which contains the rules for proper ventilation. The 'plan' that Wilders is asking for is already there. But Joba van den Berg (CDA) thinks that reference to the Building Decree is too non-committal. "How is the Minister of Education going to ensure that schools are supported in how they can and should ventilate indoor spaces," she wondered during the debate today.
This does not guarantee the health of teaching staff and students
The Ministry of Education sent an answer to that question to various interest groups during the debate. Requirements are already set for the ventilation of schools via the Building and Working Conditions Decree. Because the RIVM, and therefore the cabinet, still assumes that COVID-19 is mainly spread by droplet transmission and direct and indirect contact, Education Minister Arie Slob sees no need to 'deviate from the existing requirements', he says in the report. sent today Corona Education Bulletin. 'According to the RIVM, however, the additional advice does apply to avoid an air flow from person to person through (swing) fans or systems with which recirculation takes place within one room where several people are staying.' In a separate letter Arie Slob therefore calls on schools to examine their ventilation system. The PO and VO council can support schools in this. “The sector councils can point the way and refer to experts,” said Minister of Health Hugo de Jonge during the debate. If the inspection of the ventilation system shows that it does not comply with the Building Decree, the school can contact the local GGD. 'They then advise on appropriate measures,' Slob writes. "Then the ventilation system must be adjusted," said De Jonge during the debate. And for it in-between, for the interim, appropriate measures must be taken. ” But, he also says: "What we should not do is make the unrest so great for the entire country that the question is asked whether we can open up."
What we should not do is make the unrest so great for the whole country that the question is asked whether we can open
Responsibility for the health of teaching staff and students is thus placed entirely with the school boards. “That is far too informal,” responds AObdriver Jelmer Evers. “This does not guarantee the health of education staff and students. The minister is nonchalant with ventilation concerns. Schools are often unable to properly assess their own ventilation system. ” Moreover, says Evers, it has long been known that ventilation is inadequate in many schools. "Boards have not taken their responsibility before, so I'm concerned about whether they will now." The union wants the ventilation systems of all school buildings to be checked by external experts.
I think the minister is a bit too relaxed about this
“I think the minister is a little too relaxed about this,” said PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher. “There are only two working days left before schools open in a large part of the Netherlands.” Together with GroenLinks party chairman Jesse Klaver, he submitted a motion that makes inspection of the ventilation systems mandatory. 'And that additional measures are taken where necessary in consultation with the GGD', according to the adopted motion.
Mouth masks
Another point raised during the debate is that of mouth masks. “Why do young people sit in crowded classes without a mask while they have to wear a mask on the way to school on public transport”, asked independent MP Femke Merel van Kooten-Arissen. In his letter, Minister of Education Slob stated that he saw no reason to make the caps compulsory for students, because, according to the Outbreak Management Team, mouth masks cannot serve as a replacement for the XNUMX meter rule.
Minister of Education Slob sees no reason to make face masks compulsory for students
During the debate, D66, CDA and Groep-Van Haga made a plea for the student associations. “I cannot explain that study or rowing clubs are allowed to organize activities, but the student societies are not allowed to introduce,” said Rob Jetten (D66). "We must prevent first-year students from dropping out because they remain anonymous and only know fellow students via a screen." The plea did not resonate with the Prime Minister. Fellow VVD member Hayke Veldman asked Mark Rutte whether regional differences could be made. "The situation in Rotterdam is simply different from that in Twente." Rutte still wants to investigate whether exceptions can be made for 'sub-associations' that resemble sports associations.
