The Ministry of Human Resources (EMMI) has amended its epidemiological action plan for schools, according to which parents can only enter educational institutions with special permission; events and proms must be postponed, or there should be a strict limit in the number of participants, and students must not attend swimming lessons.
The EMMI prepared a plan for epidemiological measures for schools for the current school year due to the coronavirus pandemic in mid-August. This plan has now been expanded due to the high number of new coronavirus cases in the country and the increasing number of active patients. According to the new epidemiological protocol, parents can only enter the school with prior permission by the head of the institution or on the occasion of programs organized specifically for parents.
In addition, events with a higher number of participants planned for the first half of the year (prom, balls, cultural programs) must be postponed, or should have a strict limit in the number of participants, while health protection measures and the possibility of an outdoor event must be taken into account. In primary and secondary schools, it is also recommended to temporarily suspend afternoon (non-class) sports sessions, sports groups, and school choir rehearsals. In-school meals should be arranged separately. If due to local conditions in the given institution it is not possible to ensure the separation of classes during meals, students can be allowed to eat in their own classrooms.
Any student or teacher who has remained at home due to any illness can only return to the institution with a certificate from a GP, treating physician, or a final hospital report. In the case of official home quarantine, a decision issued by the epidemiological authority to lift the epidemiological surveillance must be presented to the school.
The action plan was also supplemented by the fact that in case the school does have a coronavirus case, only the Education Office can order an extraordinary break in the given institution or other institutions. Since the beginning of the school year, it has been reported in several schools that a student or staff became infected with coronavirus, and in many places the personal attendance has been replaced by digital curriculum.
According to the Teachers’ Union (PSZ), it is worrying that while the coronavirus is appearing in more and more schools every day, EMMI still formulates only recommendations and possibilities instead of a clear protocol that must be followed. PSZ Vice-President Tamás Totyik believes that this may be because in many institutions the recommendations are difficult to follow due to financial shortcomings and labor shortages; and if schools were given specific instructions on what to do, the Ministry would have to provide the necessary resources. Totyik also finds it problematic that there are still no plans of strengthening school nurse services, and of regular screening of students and teachers. He also mentioned shortcomings in the epidemiological protocol, saying if cases of coronavirus are confirmed in an institution, those affected would only be quarantined at home, but not be tested until they developed symptoms.
featured photo: Zsolt Szigetváry/MTI