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For her part, Rasa Budbergytė, the elder of the Social Democratic faction in the Seimas, says she believes that the short-term return of students to schools would pose more social challenges than real benefits. Politicians believe that the last few weeks of the school year would be most useful for improving distance learning methodologies.
However, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the president of the Liberal Movement, sees the benefits of returning students to school for two weeks. The policy emphasizes that a long break in the learning process is harmful, therefore, according to it, solutions must be found to resume the educational process in schools safely.
R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė: so far the Minister’s speeches seem only theoretical considerations
R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, a member of the TS-LKD party, is convinced that the Minister for Education, Science and Sports A. Monkevičius should speak more carefully about the deliberations to return students to schools for two weeks. According to the conservative, if the ministry decides to return students to schools, specific recommendations and plans should be provided immediately to organize the educational process. The politician points out that so far there are no recommendations on how to organize the work of schools.
“Every ministerial consideration of the educational community is already understood as a kind of plan. If the Minister does not intend to do so, I believe that he is not responsible for talking about it. There is already a debate on how the work will be organized, as there are no recommendations. People in the educational community, school administrations are not health professionals who know how to organize work, what distances to follow, what to do during breaks, what that work will be like in school in general, “said R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė to Eltai.
“I think that if the minister decides on the plan he has mentioned, he should immediately provide very clear recommendations and plans on how to organize this work,” he added.
According to R. Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, until now the Minister’s speeches appear only as theoretical considerations and do not bring any clarity to the educational process.
“Now, once again, it seems like it’s just another theoretical reflection, reasoning and a lack of clarity, I don’t think that uncertainty is good for teachers, students or parents,” said the conservative.
According to the politician, the ministry must first seek consensus with the educational community itself.
R. Budbergytė: the solution would cause more social challenges than it would benefit
For his part, R. Budbergytė, the elder of the Social Democratic faction in Seimas, claims that returning children to school for several weeks would pose more social challenges than could bring real benefits.
“The first question is: what will that week bring? … If the children return to classes for a week, it will be more of a social challenge, a violation of self-isolation,” R. Budbergytė told Eltai.
The Social Democrat does not hide this skepticism from the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, who emphasizes that it would be better to use the last two weeks of the school year to improve distance learning methodologies.
“It is better to use this time to think about how to better develop the methodologies and adapt them to other opportunities to work remotely, because crises related to various virus epidemics are likely to occur in the future,” said the politician.
According to R. Budbergytė, the Minister of Education, Science and Sports lacks coherence in decision-making.
V. Čmilytė-Nielsen: too long a break in the educational process for children is detrimental
Liberal Movement President V. Čmilytė-Nielsen has a slightly different opinion on the return of students to schools and says she supports the Minister’s deliberations. Politicians believe that too long a pause in the learning process is harmful to children.
“I am of the opinion that such a long pause in the learning process for children would be as if they returned to the school bank only in September,” is damaging. Many education experts and foreign experts confirm this, ”V. Čmilytė-Nielsen told Eltai.
“I think it is very important to note that in other Nordic countries, which are in a situation basically similar to ours, nurseries and schools are probably the first institutions to open,” he added.
Still, politicians believe that decisions to return children to school should be made with great responsibility when considering whether people’s safety can be guaranteed. According to V. Čmilytė-Nielsen, it must be assessed that there are a significant number of people at risk among teachers.
“The big challenge here is for the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, and the community at large, and for us politicians to find a solution to protect school staff and teachers at risk, but to give children a little road and no access. A 5-6 month break, which would probably have a long time to come, “emphasized the president of the Liberal Movement.
According to V. Čmilytė-Nielsen, it is possible to protect teachers at risk by using a mixed teaching method.
“I think an option would be a combined way for at-risk teachers to continue their distance learning and for younger, risk-free teachers to be able to return to school,” said the politician, stressing that without the virus receding rapidly. in which case the dilemma of how to protect higher teachers must be addressed.
ELTA recalls that the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, A. Monkevičius, reported last Friday on the possibility of returning to school for at least two weeks this school year. It is recommended that elementary students return to educational institutions on May 25 and to basic and general education, starting on June 1.
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