The consultation between Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA) and the education partners has ended. “The education field supports the demand for a thorough adjustment of the quarantine rules for schools, so that only those who have symptoms should remain at home,” it said in a statement. The Interministerial Conference on Public Health must make the final decision tomorrow morning.
Read all the news about the coronavirus in this file.
The education partners also discussed a design of a corona barometer for education for the first time, which will be knocked off later. After all, the federal corona barometer that was presented last week does not include any rules for education.
According to Weyts’ proposal, education will also work with 3 color codes, with a basic package of measures that are in effect at every level (such as ventilation, ventilation and distance). This basic package can then be supplemented with additional measures at each level. “In education we already worked with a barometer in 2020: even then we had different color codes. We also got to know the limitations of this system at that time,” says Weyts. “With a new barometer, we especially want to simplify the rules, which is important for management and teachers. Hopefully there will be a little more stability and predictability, although the virus itself will always remain unpredictable.”
Multi-day school trips
The educational field has already decided that multi-day school trips will again be possible from 29 January. Last week, the Consultation Committee announced that the youth sector may once again organize multi-day trips with overnight stays. There are no longer any restrictions on group travel. “It would be absurd that you are allowed to go to bivouac with the chiro, but not on a trip with school,” says Weyts. “In addition, for some students, school trips are the only trips they take”.
Schools that have had to cancel school trips planned before January 28 will be able to invoke their cancellation insurance. The Flemish Parliament and the Flemish Government will provide a retroactive arrangement for this.
Disease certificate
Finally, it was also decided that sick teachers no longer need two certificates to justify their absence. Until now, both a traditional doctor’s note and an additional certificate, which must also be completed by the GP, were required. At the request of the general practitioners, who are currently overburdened, that second certificate has temporarily expired. Teachers only need a doctor’s note during this period.
Should the quarantine rules at school be overhauled? “That leads to bigger outbreaks and more sick teachers. Then a school will eventually close”(+)
Education suffers under quarantines of staff and students: even parents have to replace teachers(+)
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