Europe’s back-to-school plan – POLITICO

Across Europe, the start of the new school year should signal a return to normalcy.

Countries like Italy kept students home from March until the summer holidays, while others like Denmark allowed schools to reopen for the remainder of the semester after the worst first wave of the pandemic ended.

Everyone tried to reassure parents and children that personal classes would resume in the fall.

But the planned reopening of the schools could not come at a worse time: Many European countries, from Spain to Poland, are recording an increase in coronavirus cases. The increase has already forced some schools to close their doors again, including in the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where four schools had to partially close after reopening last week due to coronavirus cases.

It doesn’t help that it remains uncertain what role schools play in the transmission of the virus. Far fewer cases have been seen in children than adults, but scientists still aren’t sure how likely it is that children will pass the virus on to others.

“The greatest fear is another lockdown and that we have to teach at home again” – Cristina Tagliabue, an Italian mother

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said this month that evidence suggests that “the reopening of schools is not associated with a significant increase in transmission in the community,” but it acknowledged that there is “conflicting published evidence” about the impact of school closings and reopenings.

But parents and students need to worry more than potential health risks: Early surveys have shown that school closings have a negative impact on the education and well-being of many children and adolescents, while parents struggle to balance remote work and homeschooling.

“The biggest fear is another lockdown and that we will have to go back to school,” said Cristina Tagliabue, an Italian mother who co-founded a protest movement that saw families and teachers take to the streets in 60 Italian cities this summer.

For this reason, the federal states are pushing ahead with the reopening of schools, although a potential second wave threatens in the fall. Six EU countries hope to open schools and keep the virus under control.

Spain

There is no national school start date in Spain as the first schools in some regions will reopen on September 7th. Government recommendations include social distancing and using facilities like libraries and canteens as classrooms to create more space.

Teachers complain that the guidelines lay down conflicting rules within the country – Spain’s 17 regions can set their own education policies – which could lead to confusion. “In Spain there can be no 17 return to the classroom,” said Sonia García, a spokeswoman for the ANPE teachers’ union., shows on a lack of “clear instructions” from the central government.

The Catalan regional government is hiring 5,000 additional teachers to create stable “bubbles” of students to limit general contact within schools and allow children to avoid face masks and social distancing. Meanwhile, the Madrid region intends to hire 600 teachers and has proposed four different action plans (including partial attendance and distance learning) depending on the severity of the pandemic. In the northeastern La Rioja region, regional authorities are suggesting that students over the age of 14 could choose an online education or go to school in the afternoon instead the morning.

France

The French schools are expected to open on Jan.

The Ministry of Education has stated that students need social distance in areas where it is impossible to keep their distance, either indoors or outdoors. However, people aged 11 and over must wear masks both indoors and outdoors if a minimum distance of 1 meter cannot be guaranteed, as must teachers. Schools have to provide masks to their staff – but the Department of Education said it only had three months of masks in stock. Schoolchildren and students are expected to buy something themselves.

Teachers unions accuse the government of “worsening the chaos” and creating “degrading” working conditions, saying that distance learning plans are incomplete when needed to tackle a second wave.

Italy

Italian schools are slated to reopen on September 14th after being closed for six months. Staff must wear masks and the government will decide in the last week of August if this is also required for children 6 years and older.

Classes will be smaller to allow for social distancing among the country’s 8 million students – meaning space will be needed for new classrooms. According to the headmasters’ association, Italy still lacks 20,000 additional classrooms for a total of 400,000 students.

Local authorities have been hired to find these rooms, with some resorting to creative solutions such as using bed and breakfast facilities as classrooms. Tagliabue, the mom-to-be-activist, is confident schools will reopen – “the problem is how many hours they can guarantee,” she said, adding that another problem is the lack of teachers for the greater number of Classes will be.

Italian media reported Friday that the committee of experts advising the government said social distancing can be avoided for a few months if students wear masks while authorities look for a solution for classrooms.

Belgium

The Belgian schools are due to reopen on September 1st, despite the increasing infection rate in the summer.

Education experts had argued that the government should look not only at the health effects of reopening, but also at the effects on the education and wellbeing of children. A new study also shows that children rarely get infected at school.

The regions responsible for education in Belgium decided on Friday that all schools would reopen on September 1st. Should the infection rate worsen in a particular village, secondary school students will attend school in alternating groups every two weeks. Further adjustments can be made depending on the pandemic.

Germany

The new school year begins on different dates in the 16 federal states. In several northern federal states such as Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein pupils have already returned; in southern states Classes traditionally resume in September.

Education is a regional responsibility, meaning each state has a different plan for reopening, but the National Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina has issued guidelines. Recommendations include wearing masks for students aged 15 and over, small contact groups within schools, and ongoing testing.

Some federal states have introduced the mask requirement in schools, although North Rhine-Westphalia is so far the only federal state that requires the wearing of masks in classrooms. Some – like Schleswig-Holstein – only recommend masks, while students in federal states like Brandenburg and Berlin only have to wear them outside of their classrooms.

Some teachers say the guidelines are inadequate or even contradictory. “Masks are required in the building, but not in the building [class]Rooms, “said a teacher at a Berlin elementary school, who wanted to remain anonymous, and added:” The students come very close in the schoolyard … The best would be a system that supports the [classes] … so that there is [fewer] Students together in a classroom. “

Poland

Poland plans to reopen schools as usual on September 1, with the exception of a handful of counties with higher coronavirus infection rates.

The current epidemiological situation “allows in the overwhelming majority of our country, in the overwhelming majority of our educational institutions … a return to standard teaching, which depends on contact between teachers and students,” said Education Minister Dariusz Piontkowski earlier this week.

There is no requirement to wear masks or to limit class size, but children are asked to wash their hands frequently and avoid contact with large groups of students.

Of the country’s 380 districts, 19 have restrictions due to high coronavirus cases. In these areas, there is a limit to the number of students who can gather in a single location. School principals will also have the authority to switch to virtual learning or hybrid learning models if coronavirus cases are detected in their schools.

Denmark

The Danish schools were opened on 10.

When the schools reopened, the children were taught in smaller groups of 10-12, sat in the classroom at a distance of 2 meters and washed their hands at least every hour and a half.

The government set key guidelines, but allowed municipalities flexibility in implementing the rules. “We have advised our members to work with the local community so that the concerns and thoughts of teachers are taken into account at all levels,” said Dörte Lange, vice-chairwoman of the Danish Teachers Association.

Children and teachers did not have to wear masks – and Denmark saw no increase in infections after schools reopened.

Cristina Gallardo, Elisa Braun, Barbara Moens, Nette Nöstlinger, Jan Cienski and Charlie Duxbury contributed to the reporting.