The intervention of Judge Roberto Gallardo, who summoned the Minister of Education of the City, Soledad Acuña, and the Minister of Health, Fernán Quirós, to give details about the protocol for returning to classes in a pandemic, sounded like an alarm in the Buenos Aires Government. Known for his controversial rulings, Gallardo was challenged by the City and was removed from the cause. Among the arguments of the Executive, there was talk of “lack of impartiality” and that the judge “would have already decided to suspend the start of classes.”
The Executive’s decision is that the boys return to the classroom on February 17. “If you have to restrict, the last thing to restrict is education. Because we know the damage that a year without face-to-face classes caused, “said Minister Soledad Acuña. In dialogue with Clarion, the official said that everything Gallardo requested is planned. And he assured that the school is a safe place.
-Can Justice interfere with the return to classes?
-Justice would have powers to do so, but we can’t find a reason certain, real, legal to do so. We developed this proposal with a long time, we spoke with 7,000 teachers and managers, 2,000 families, 15 NGOs, we held general meetings with unions, others by sector. Everything for guarantee the right to education, which is only guaranteed in person. The remote form left a lot of guys out. And we are taking care of teachers and children to also guarantee the right to health. So far, the Justice only made a request for information on an issue that we already had planned and that was announced three weeks ago.
-What do you think was the motivation of Judge Gallardo?
-The motivation you have to ask him. We gave it to all the actors who asked us for information, because doing so is part of the confidence building necessary to return to the presence. In addition, we have everything planned. If Judge Gallardo has doubts, we have certainties.
-The judge asked them for information, on time, about the plan to test the teachers. How is that plan?
-From Monday, February 8, which is the day the staff return to the schools, three specific centers begin to operate for teachers and non-teachers to take the test before the start of classes, taking a turn. Then they will have to repeat it each 15 days. The idea is that once the vaccination process begins, the health team will define how the frequency of tests will follow. This information is what Gallardo asks for, it is not something that was not foreseen or that we do not know.
-Will the students be tested?
-The students will not be tested. Parents will have to present an affidavit that the children have no symptoms and that there are no people with Covid in the house. At school their temperature will be taken every day before entering. At the entrance there will be alcohol gel for them to sanitize. And then there will be a whole care protocol within the school.
-What are the main doubts that teachers express?
– Teachers or unions? Because they are not the same doubts. The unions stated that they wanted vaccination as a condition. Some demanded distancing measures from us that are not being used for any other type of activity. On the part of the teachers, there is fear. But both in the classes that were given last year and now in the summer school, they saw that the children adapt, they comply with the regulations. There is such a need for presence that everyone’s fears go away quickly. People at risk are not going to have to go to work. Nor are the risk kids going to have to attend. And in the classrooms, the teachers are going to be two meters away, wearing a mask and mask.
“The school is a safe place,” says Minister Soledad Acuña. Photo Andrés D’Elía
– Are the schools going to be really safe places?
-Of course. We saw it in the northern hemisphere, where they were closed for very short times, but there were classes. Epidemiological studies show that classes are possible. And in a congress of the Argentine Society of Pediatrics it was reported that in the external clinics of the Ricardo Gutiérrez Hospital, no doctor got sick caring for children.
-Is there the same security with adolescents?
-The school with protocols it can be a safe place. If the boys go out to the dances, they go to the clubs, how can we not organize them to go to school? Even in high school, where the teacher’s relationship with these students is different, with greater distance. They don’t have to tie their shoelaces or hug them when they arrive.
-Did the unions accept the draft protocol that you presented to them?
Yes. Now what we are doing is analyzing with more technical teams level by educational level, to see how to implement the return to the classroom according to the particularities of each one.
– Do parents have the confidence to send their children back to school?
-There are several surveys that show that there is an enormous need and request from families for the return of presence. Some families express the usual concernIf they are all going to be in the classroom together, what will happen if a classmate is infected. But back, those fears actually go away. We will work with families on doubts and fears, to help them trust that school with care is a safe place.
-And what will happen if there is a student or teacher infected?
-It has been foreseen since last year that if a boy or a teacher comes with symptoms, there is an isolation space to carry itThe family and SAME are contacted and from there the Ministry of Health is given intervention. Isolation of the bubbles is also provided. And after the period of isolation, he goes back to school.
“If Judge Gallardo has doubts, we have certainties,” says Minister Soledad Acuña. Photo Andrés D’Elía
– Could schools close again before the arrival of the second wave of coronavirus?
-It is a possibility that schools will close again. It is one of the measures for which we have to be prepared. But the schools they have to be the first to open and the last to close. If you have to restrict, the last thing to restrict is education. We are working to make the school model flexible. It may be that you have to close an establishment or a grade or reorganize the school calendar, but always knowing that you will return to classes later.
-Will there not be more closings indefinitely?
-No, this indefinite closure and not discussing the possibility of the return, we are not going to do it. Within the framework of epidemiological possibilities, schools will be the last to close, because we know the damage that there was for the boys in a year without face-to-face classes. They lost in terms of learning, but they also suffered psychological and social damage. In addition, we know what impacts on the family that children cannot go to school.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/soledad-acuna-if-we-have-to-restrict-the-last-thing-that-will-be-restricted-is-education/
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