Schools will have the right to force children to wear masks in class.

Measure will be “necessary” for 11th and 12th grade students

Schools will have the right to force students to wear masks in class. This is clear from a letter from the Minister of Education, Krassimir Valchev, sent to the heads of the regional education departments and to the directors of educational institutions.

The decision to wear a mask in class will be made at the school level, not at the national level and, depending on the circumstances, may apply only to a particular class or to all students.

According to Minister Valchev’s letter, for one group this will be “necessary”: students of the second stage of secondary school (11th and 12th grade), who are mixed with different classes in specialized training classes. But even this decision of the Minister of Education remains in the hands of the pedagogical councils.

Here is the text of the ministerial order:

“In recent weeks, the development of the epidemic situation related to COVID-19 in our country has been complicated. The guidelines developed before the start of the school year allowed starting in a controlled environment and giving confidence in decision-making at the school level.

With the beginning of the autumn-winter period, the situation with the epidemic of COVID-19 and other viral diseases is deteriorating, at the same time that it becomes more dynamic and uneven in different districts and municipalities of the country. That is why personal protective equipment is extremely important.

Regarding the protective masks used for the face, which are mandatory in the closed common parts of the school building for all students, teachers and people outside the institution, and in the classrooms for students they are optional, at the school level by decision From the pedagogical council it is possible to decide that the masks should be obligatory also in the hours. This solution can be for certain classes or for all students in order to protect the health of teachers and students. The use of protective masks by second stage high school students is imperative in specialized training classes, when there is a mix of different classes and therefore violates the principle of non-interaction.

Also in classrooms and other classrooms (offices, gymnasium, laboratories, workshops), if the activities are carried out with students from different classes / classes / stages and it is impossible to provide a distance of 1.5 m between students from different classes. ; in the celebration of Olympics and competitions, etc.

For teachers teaching in a single class, the use of a protective mask is mandatory during the time when they have close contact with the students, but for teaching purposes, if there is a distance greater than 1.5 m between them and the students. students, it is permissible to have no mask. Teachers can continue to wear protective helmets, but only in addition to protective masks. “