[ad_1]
Universities make the decision for themselves
This week, the queue of students at the gate of Vilnius University (VU) received a lot of attention in public space. Like other institutions of higher education, VU students can only attend conferences with opportunity passports, which are carefully reviewed by university staff.
Vytautas Kučinskas, president of the Lithuanian Union of Students (LSS), said that each higher education institution sets its own rules for checking whether a student has a passport of opportunity. According to him, some universities carry out this process electronically.
“Depending on the trends we see, queues are formed where the opportunity passport is verified live when entering the building. In other higher education institutions, there is no such problem, because or it is simply smaller schools, fewer students or other higher education institutions have become such a system that the passport of opportunity is loaded into the system of information study.
A certain declaration can also be signed in the information system. Teachers, unless they can proactively ask to make sure the student has actually uploaded everything and that the statement is correct. It depends on each institution of higher education, because they have autonomy, “said the portal. lrytas.lt commented V. Kučinskas.
When asked whether the need to have a passport had led those who decided to take an academic license or finish their studies, a representative of the Lithuanian Student Union considered that there were no mutually acceptable solutions in this case.
“It just came to our knowledge then. There was an analogy when everyone had distance learning. Those who wanted the quality of their studies also spoke of the academic decline, so in this case there will be those of both groups who are unhappy.
It’s great to remember all those stories where health care students couldn’t get quality internships – speeches were heard to take a better academic license. And now this group is only interested in networking.
It is very unfortunate that there are people who are not willing to be vaccinated and tested, so there are certain threats that everyone will return from a distance, ”explained V. Kučinskas.
The system promises to be improved
Vice-Rector for Studies of Vilnius University (VU) dr. Valdas Jaskūnas for the news portal lrytas.lt He said that the largest queues of waiters formed in the faculties of the old town of the capital.
“We have decided that the students and the entire community will be admitted to the study rooms only with passports of opportunity, and we will check them at the entrances. We have 27 entries in the university and this week they started to move in their entirety. The beginning of the week showed how these flows are forming, when and at what time. The queues were formed especially in the faculties of the old town.
The students also had a new experience in time planning: it is necessary to plan the arrival time a little differently, allocating 15 minutes for check-in ”, explained V. Jaskūnas.
According to him, efforts are being made to improve the passport verification process on a daily basis.
“We oversee the entire inspection process and strive for higher throughput; we regroup inspectors to see when and where they are most needed. The process is so dynamic. The challenges have been solved, although the flows are forming, the movement it is quite fast ”, affirmed the vice-rector for Studies.
According to him, the total abandonment of the live inspection is not contemplated, but the university will seek to simplify the process.
“We are considering using an internal system that can show the opportunity passport and the fact of its validity. There are also some legal data protection issues that need to be addressed. We are planning and hope to switch to such a system next month. But we do not have the intention to completely abandon the inspection, “explained V. Jaskūnas.
It reported that about 90 percent of VU students received at least one dose of the vaccine before Sept. 1, and about 80 percent of students are fully vaccinated.
Also travels to electronic space
Mantas Lapinskas, representative of the Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) for the portal lrytas.lt He said that the objective of the university is to return to normality as soon as possible, so today it already has an information system, which can monitor the compliance of both staff and students with the requirements established by the Government.
“The university has a team that will periodically verify the accuracy of the data. In addition, teachers also see this system: if a student does not have the opportunity to have a passport or other relevant documents during their conference, they will ask to leave the hearing”, explained M. Lapinskas.
“Students who participate in academic contact classes must comply with the conditions of the Government’s resolutions. Under current procedure, if students do not meet these conditions, they will not be able to continue their studies at KTU. Of course, this order can change at any time, but this decision is not up to us, “he added.
M. Lapinskas said that the lectures at KTU are currently held in contact form, or when planned, in mixed form. Distance learning is only available for those simplified conferences in which a group of more than 30 students will be formed.
It should be noted that all exercises, laboratory work, evaluations (if there will not be more than 30 students in the evaluations) and public defense of the final theses will be carried out in person.
The Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LMSU) and Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) also verify passports electronically.
“Students who meet the prescribed criteria – have an opportunity passport – participate in outreach activities at LSMU. Whether students meet the opportunity passport criteria is noted by completing the “Prerequisite Study Statement” in the university’s internal study system.
Student opportunity passports are reviewed. Students are examined at the entrance to academic departments or auditoriums. The university’s internal human resources (study administrators, professors) are sufficient for these inspections. The process takes a little longer than the usual mark of student attendance, but there are no queues, ”commented LSMU representatives.
According to VMU Vice Chancellor for Studies Simona Pilkienė, students must present an Opportunity Passport in advance.
“In order to ensure a smooth study process and save time for passport verification, students are asked to present a document in advance proving compliance with government requirements. They upload this document to the student portal. The inspection is carried out by the studio service personnel.
Students who cannot participate in contact activities receive study material in a remote area. It is also possible to follow the conference remotely ”, said the portal. lrytas.lt said the vice-rector for Studies of the VMU.
An antigen test will suffice
The government agreed on Wednesday that high school students could attend lectures until mid-October and without a passport, following preventive COVID-19 tests.
“For students, regular screening equates to passport testing until October 15, when they, like educators, could perform antigen tests or PCR and not form a passport, but guarantee quality education, so they say they cannot or do not have access to the conferences, “said Deputy Minister of Health A.Bilotienė Motiejūnienė.
According to her, some students were unable to receive both doses of the vaccine and should get full immunity later.
A prophylactic antigen test or PCR testing is scheduled for students every 7-10 days.
After October 15, students will only be able to take exams and attend conferences for a fee.
The government also agreed that as of September 13, the passport could be subjected not only to a PCR but also to an antigen test, valid for 48 hours.
Education Minister Jurgita Šiugždinienė stated that the changes “are made to ensure high-quality implementation of studies and vocational training and to participate in the study process in a contact manner, as well as due to interurban communication.” .
