The classroom is in sight: concerns of education staff are increasing
Aerosols that can be used from local to local via air conditioning. Or the lack of ventilation options, so that teacher and student share the same air for hours on end. And the student: how contagious is he now? Teachers are concerned.
Now that the schools in the Northern Netherlands will reopen in a week, the questions are tumbling over each other. Almost all of them have to do with two issues: the role of aerosols in the spread of the virus. And the position of teenagers: to what extent do they pass on COVID-19?
Secretly scrounging window keys
In a blog entitled 'You'll be a teacher' on the RTL news website, journalist Jeroen Akkermans writes about his wife, who started teaching in Germany today and is not reassured about it for the first time. As a habit, the largest windows in the classrooms at her school are always closed. Although his wife, Akkermans writes, 'secretly managed to bum some window keys somewhere'.
De AOb getting more and more messages from concerned staff. Teachers and support staff also read the reports about, for example, a COVID-19 outbreak in a nursing home in Maassluis where the ventilation system may have played an important role. Or they get the medical scientific news as a result of research from South Korea, from America - into an outbreak at a summer camp in the state of Georgia - and from France, where many students and teachers fell ill at a high school.
Saliva drops
In newspaper Trouw RIVM announced last Saturday that it would maintain its position on young people and COVID-19. Susan van den Hof, epidemiologist at the RIVM, questioned the foreign investigations in the newspaper, such as those from the US state of Georgia. “It was a camp. There the children roll over each other. Not surprisingly, they infect each other more quickly. Moreover, there was a lot of sports and singing at this camp. In addition, the contagious saliva drops fly around. ” About the South Korean investigation, Van den Hof said in the same newspaper: “They see that the secondary school students have infected a lot of others, but those students have very few contacts. As if they only investigated the high-risk contacts ”.
Evaluation
In view of a parliamentary debate that will most likely take place next Wednesday about the corona virus, the AOb in a Letter to Parliament to clarity. 'Conclusive answers must be provided quickly, so that education can start the new school year with confidence.'
The union also wants advice from the cabinet about ventilation in schools before the schools start. 'Educational staff – from primary schools to universities – often do not know which ventilation system is present and whether this ventilation system meets the standards for a safe indoor climate. This must become clear quickly, so that schools can take measures before the start of the school year if necessary.' Furthermore, the AOb wondered whether the outbreaks that occurred in schools before the summer have been evaluated. 'What have we learned from this?'
FAQ
At the moment, the protocols are valid as agreed for the summer holidays. Our FAQ page shows roughly the rules for teaching corona time by education sector, and contains links to the original protocols. You will also find other frequently asked questions and answers about corona and education.
The letter to the House is here download.
