Rouhani criticized at the beginning of the school year in Iran for the “video message”

The school year began in Iran today (Saturday), for about 15 million students, many of whom remained out of the classroom, amid fears of an outbreak of the new Corona virus, amid confirmation by the authorities of the adoption of all preventive measures to avoid “Covid-19”.
Nujuanan High School in North Tehran witnessed an official and media presence at the beginning of the new school year, on a day marked by a video message from President Hassan Rouhani, who generally opened the school year with attendance. direct, according to Agence France-Presse.
Those entering the school underwent a sterilization device, and underwent a temperature test, before being distributed in their yard, maintaining social distancing.
The beginning of the educational year occurs about six months after the closure of schools due to the outbreak of “Covid-19”, which is the most affected country in the Middle East, Iran, and the pandemic has left more than 22,000 dead in the country and more than 382,000 injured.
According to the latest official figures announced by the Iranian Ministry of Health, today (Saturday), in the last twenty-four hours, 110 people have died and 1,894 new infections with the virus have been infected.
“I hope that our dear families trust us and make sure that the ministry takes the utmost care to try to ensure that all necessary protocols are implemented,” Education Minister Mohsen Haji Mirzai said after ringing the bell at the beginning of the school year.
This year a series of precautionary measures will be adopted, among them that the lessons do not last more than 35 minutes, maintaining a distance of at least one meter between each student and another, and forcing everyone to wear protective masks, according to the anti-“Covid-19” committee in Iran.
While many students will return to the classroom, many, especially the younger ones, will remain outside of the classroom and pursue distance learning.
In the video message transmitted to the students and officials present in Nujuanan, Rouhani emphasized the importance of strict adherence to preventive health measures, and called for “discipline” in its application, which is equivalent to “discipline of soldiers in training camps. of the armed forces “.
Despite this, Rouhani did not escape the arrows of criticism, since his participation in the celebrations at the beginning of the school year was limited to a video message due to the fears of “Covid-19”, while the students are invited to go directly to schools and classes.
Reform journalist Maziar Khasrafi wrote on Twitter: “Rouhani called the start of the school year remotely and expects me to send my son (to school)?”
For his part, the conservative film producer, Mahmoud Rezaei, asked via Twitter: “How can you expect people to trust protocols that the president himself doesn’t trust, and send their loved ones to school.”
The government had come under fire in the context of students returning to classes at the beginning of the school year, and one of the most prominent critics was Muhammad Reza Zafarqandi, head of the Medical Council of Iran, which is a non-governmental body that acts as a Medical Union and handles the licensing and registration of healthcare workers. Except nurses.
In an open letter published today (Saturday), Zafarkandi said that the approved procedures are somewhat “contradictory,” warning that students can carry the “Corona” virus without showing any symptoms, and subsequently cause the transmission of the infection.
Several teachers and families of the students expressed concern about attending classes directly, fearing that this would lead to an outbreak of the virus.
School principal Nasreen Mobini said: “Controlling the (Covid-19) outbreak is very difficult and students must learn to follow health protocols and social distancing.” And she added: “We are all concerned: my colleagues, my parents, everyone.”
For his part, the professor of Literature Amiri (66 years old) said that returning to classes “creates pressure”, but recognized the need to carry out the first classes at least directly, so that teachers and students get to know each other.
As for the mother of one of the students, who only mentioned her last name, Athrakhsh, she indicated that “anxiety and stress” accompany her when she brings her son to school today, and indicated that she prefers to attend classes directly whenever effective and strict application of preventive measures is required.
The students seemed happy to return to school, despite feeling the danger of contracting or transmitting the infection, and Asakhan, a 14-year-old student, said: “We are happy because the schools have reopened their doors,” while acknowledging that the situation “continues to be dangerous for us and others”.
And he considered that school lessons “should not be completely direct, nor completely via the Internet, there should be a mixture between the two.”