Education remains open, cabinet urgently advises mouth caps from group 6
The social impact and consequences for children and young people are too great to close schools, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said during the corona press conference tonight. The cabinet wants to prevent further spread of the virus in schools by having children from group 6 in primary and secondary schools wear face masks in the hallways. AOb-chairman Tamar van Gelder: "The person who comes up with these kinds of rules for 9-year-olds has clearly not been in a primary school for a long time."
Picture: Type tank
De AOb notices that the workload at primary and secondary schools has increased enormously in recent weeks due to the many infections and dropouts. Chairman Tamar van Gelder: "We see that more and more schools are struggling to staff classes. A measure such as face masks in primary education does not help with this. It will take a lot of work to correctly put on a face mask every time for 25 bouncing students. done before they leave the room.”
Van Gelder emphasizes that no school is held to the impossible. "In consultation with the participation council, a school can decide to switch to online education if it is really no longer possible from an organizational point of view."
The new measures announced tonight for education will apply from next Monday to Friday 17 December:
Mouth masks
• In secondary education, a face mask obligation applies to students and teachers outside the classroom
• In primary schools, teachers and students from group 6 are urgently advised to wear a face mask in the hallways and communal areas of the school.
Self-testing
• In secondary education, teachers and students are strongly advised to take a self-test twice a week.
• This urgent advice also applies in primary education: twice a week self-tests for teaching staff and students from group 6.
• These self-tests are made available through existing distribution channels
Other
• Walking routes in the school
• Cohorting where possible
• Staggered breaks
• Children go to school themselves as much as possible
• The snot bubble policy is back: students stay at home with mild cold complaints and have themselves tested
mbo, hbo and wo
• No extra measures (on top of the current ones) in MBO, HBO and WO
• Self-tests twice a week as in primary education
The above measures are on top the current appointments. Prime Minister Mark Rutte indicated that in basic education - in order to be able to implement these measures from Monday - a lot still needs to be arranged and agreed. Outgoing minister Arie Slob is working hard on this, Rutte said.
Personnel protection
De AOb was informed about the new measures in primary education just before the press conference. The education union lacks measures to protect staff, think of a booster shot and good ventilation in the schools. Van Gelder: "Masks in the hallway are a temporary remedy for poor ventilation. Next winter, pupils, students and staff will again be in poorly ventilated rooms with their coats on and scarves on."
De AOb wants every school class to have a CO2 meter. “Then teachers will at least know when the situation really gets out of hand and they can address the employer about this. We have already developed a step-by-step plan for this.”
booster shot
At the end of the press conference, a journalist who was present pointed out outgoing minister Hugo de Jonge to over-XNUMXs who work in basic education, often with older or vulnerable partners at home. Can't they get priority over the booster shot? "No, I will not comply with that request," De Jonge replied. Coming into contact with the virus a lot does not apply exclusively to this group, says De Jonge. "The booster shot is given to prevent hospital admissions. To achieve that, you have to age from top to bottom boost."
