More than 2,000. Kaunas beginners stay home; your parents did not agree to be tested

Student testing in Kaunas has already started

Rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests, a cumulative study of groups of students, allowed beginners to return to class. The evaluation process of the children in Kaunas is already underway and has been promised to start it in the Kaunas district on Thursday.

“The bulk study is going according to plan: the samples collected earlier in the week have already been delivered to the labs and analyzed. Today, preventive research will take place in 14 more schools in the city. We estimate that today More than 500 new packages will be delivered to laboratories for testing.

We should receive responses on a daily basis, but large investigation sampling processes can take a little longer. However, the cumulative tests are carried out according to the established schedule and will be repeated over time and next week. Periodic tests using the cumulative method will be carried out until the end of the school year, ”Ona Gucevičienė, director of the Kaunas Municipality’s Department of Education, told the Delfi portal on Wednesday.

Unlike parents, a small percentage of students stay home

The representative of the municipality clarified that the vast majority of parents agreed that their children should be tested once a week, therefore all municipalities and private schools in Kaunas are already in operation and the primary education process is underway.

“Out of 13,2 thousand. More than 11 thousand minors from Kaunas. Children will be evaluated prophylactically and will complete the school year with their peers.

2000 108 young Kaunas residents were not sent to schools by their parents who disagreed with the cumulative testing method. Their children continue their education remotely, ”said O. Gucevičienė, Head of the Education Department of Kaunas Municipality.

Jonas Petkevičius, head of the Department of Culture, Education and Sports of the Kaunas District Municipality, noted that there are 24 schools in operation and 519 children who have stayed at home have not returned and are studying remotely.

“Of the 200 classes, 199 return to contact learning (mixed) and only one class will study at a distance because the parents did not agree to evaluate their children. Out of 4,154 primary school students, 3,635 students (88%) return to study in a contact (mixed) way, ”said J. Petkevičius.

Atypical situation: he did not allow the children to take the test, but he took them to school.

Although only elementary school students whose parents agree to have their children tested can study face-to-face or co-ed, a non-standard situation has been found in the Kaunas district. Several families who disagreed with the test took their children to Ringaudai Primary School.

The parents relied on legal provisions that refusal to take the test should not prevent contact learning. However, there is a dilemma: these children should be in a separate room, not in contact with their classmates. On Wednesday, the principal of Ringaudai Primary School mentioned that the problem has already been solved: these children are being educated remotely.

“You could consider admitting unexamined students to those schools that have empty facilities with separate entrances. They are necessary to avoid cross-matching and non-testing of student flows. For these students, the computer equipment is turned on in separate rooms and the lessons are broadcast. Without these conditions, unexamined children will not be admitted to schools. The most important thing is to ensure the safety of the students, ”said J. Petkevičius, Head of the Department of Culture, Education and Sports of the Kaunas District Municipality.

Those who have not been screened for school promise to be admitted, but will not be admitted to classes.

O. Gucevičienė, Head of the Education Department of Kaunas Municipality, mentioned that such situations did not occur in the city.

“We have not received any information about the students who refused to take the exam and who would come to the educational institution. If this is the case, distance education and care services for students should be provided in a separate room.

However, it is important to note that there may be some exceptions where cumulative testing is not mandatory: children who have already had a coronavirus infection less than 180 days before. Also those minors who underwent serological tests less than 60 days ago and found a positive response.

Schools make it possible for learners with high and very high special needs to study in the classroom. Their parents must submit a request to the school for the minor to return to education in contact, ”said a representative from the Kaunas municipality.

Not all beginners in the Kaunas district can enjoy going back to school. Some will have to spend a week at school and another at home in distance learning. This is because in some educational institutions the number of students is extremely large and the facilities are small.

“If spaces are lacking, as in Jonučiai progymnasium, one week some classes will be studied by contact, others at distance, and after a week they will change,” said J. Petkevičius, representative of the Kaunas district municipality. .