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On Thursday, President Gitanas Nausėda met remotely with the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Jurgita Šiugždinienė, the Minister of Health, Arūnas Dulkis, representatives of the education unions, the student union, the association of school leaders and the municipal association and discussed the challenges to the quality of education. in pandemic conditions.
The advisor to the President Vilma Bačkiūtė presented that during the meeting the situation in schools, the return of children from primary school to schools and verified internships were discussed.
“The president called for a common goal to focus on so that all schools can safely open next school year. We have to prepare all the homework so that next year we can return students to safe contact work,” said V Bačkiūtė.
Expect to start the new school year differently
The Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Jurgita Šiugždinien that, said that discussions with the educational community are ongoing and that currently the issue of graduates is extremely important.
“The success of going back to school and making up for the loss of our education depends on our working together. I urge everyone to unite, because at this moment, our priority, despite the fact that the school year is coming to an end, is to return graduates to the educational process as of May 3 ”, said the Minister.
According to her, twelfth graders will continue to have the opportunity to participate in additional consultations and additional funds will be allocated for this purpose.
We hope that after the return to contact education, these consultations will help to further compensate for the loss of education. This is especially important for graduates who have experienced difficulties during this period.
We are also preparing for the next school year; I think we will all meet in class on September 1, but it largely depends on the rate of vaccination and our own willingness to vaccinate.
We are planning a series of actions: summer camps, we will continue with additional consultations in the fall and we will see that the technologies for hybrid education are purchased in the fall, ”said J. Šiugždinienė.
He added that some of the post-quarantine education could also take place remotely.
“Even during the non-pandemic period, we will probably be able to do part of the education remotely – this is an advanced method,” said the minister.
According to her, the issue of going back to school is complicated because opinions differ.
“We see that the community is not united on the issue of going back to school. <...> We see that opinions differ, I could say that 100 percent, around 70 percent are in favor of returning and between 30 and 35 percent are against, “said the minister.
According to J.Šiugždinienė, currently about 50 percent of high school graduates have received the first dose of the vaccine.
Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys stated that the Ministry is trying to create preconditions for the processes of returning to schools and studies to be as smooth as possible.
“With regard to testing, I would like to point out that since the end of March, employees of educational services and activities must undergo regular testing for COVID-19. Testing is a must for all educators working in contact.
If the teacher works remotely, this obligation does not really apply. Last week alone, there were about 17,000. Preventive exams, there are already 11 thousand this week, and only then can we prevent outbreaks in educational institutions, because, unfortunately, there are no shortages here, ”said A. Dulkys.
He is pleased that cumulative testing is being conducted in nearly 70 schools across the country, with more than 9,000 elementary school students being tested.
“Our duty is to constantly seek new ways to expand the scope of testing in educational institutions, so we are preparing to make rapid antigen testing possible in the near future,” said A. Dulkys.
He spared no criticism of the Government
Sara Aškinytė, President of the Lithuanian Student Union (LMS), said that it is very important to listen to students’ thoughts and ideas at this time.
“The aspect of the psychosocial environment, the aspect of the emotional environment, was discussed. “It has been promised that a plan is being prepared to help students and the educational community, because students experience a lot of stress and lack of contact has strong consequences for their normal life,” said the president of LMS.
“We are very satisfied with the testing and vaccination plans. The meeting was hopeful and we think there will definitely not be too many discussions,” he added.
Egidijus Milešinas, president of the Education and Science Union, for his part, did not skimp on the government’s criticism, saying it was not determined to solve long-standing education problems.
“The government has promised that education will be the number one priority for the state. Despite everything, that is what we hope. Today, however, it is clear that education is not a priority and an ambition of this Government. What we are seeing today is an attempt to shed responsibility and impose it on school leaders and teachers.
Does not show competence and ability to lead and solve problems. The national agreement on education is being coordinated under the carpet, we know that it has already been agreed to transfer all the financing for education to the municipalities.
This shows once again the reluctance and inability to tackle long-standing educational problems. <...> I believe that the government must make cardinal decisions, “said E. Milešinas.
According to the data provided by A.Dulkis, 34 thousand. members of the educational community were vaccinated with at least one dose, around 20 thousand. – both doses.
