Terra schools in Drenthe take precautions against the foot and mouth virus. There is no outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the Netherlands, but both the vocational and secondary education departments are being extra careful as a precaution.
Students in the green course are not allowed to wear work clothes or work shoes to school, internship visits are limited and disinfectant mats are placed.
The school with Drenthe departments in Emmen, Meppel, Assen and Eelde writes about the measures in a letter to all parents. It states that there are no indications of infections in the Netherlands yet, but the school is erring on the side of caution.
‘Some of our students and colleagues have animals susceptible to FMD infection at home (cows, goats, sheep, pigs) or come into contact with them in other places, for example during an internship. There is therefore great concern about a further FMD outbreak,” the letter reads.
Many students from the school do internships on farms. The school tries to do internship visits online as much as possible, but if that is not possible, Terra limits the number of internship visits to one per day.
Disinfectant mats will be installed in the MBO departments in Meppel, Emmen and Assen. “These mats were already present in these departments. The secondary school is also considering doing this,” says a spokesperson. She also says that the school is in close contact with LTO and veterinarians about the further development of the virus.