Parents and children alike are tired of quarantine: pupils flock to kindergartens

The interviewees from all the municipalities emphasize that they try to take into account the situation of each family individually.

In Panevėžys, the number of children attending kindergartens exceeded 50 percent.

According to Aušra Burbienė, a representative of the Department of Education of the Panevėžys city municipality, 44 percent went to city kindergartens last week. The number of children attending kindergartens this week reached 55%.

“Educational institutions, their bosses consult with parents, ask – if there is an opportunity, abstain, stay at home. This is only a recommendation, such specific reception conditions have not been defined either by the state or by the municipality. Here we negotiate with parents on the principle of agreement and conscience, “A. Burbienė told the portal.

According to the specialist, the goal is to manage the number of kindergarten children in groups, so that their number does not exceed 50 percent. and the risk of spreading a pandemic is minimized.

“We see that parents, although they have the opportunity to stay at home with their child, but seeing the condition of the child, his desire to return to his classmates, actually make that decision, even if they return to school for a short time.” . noted A. Burbienė.

According to her, parents are not asked to provide any proof as to why the child cannot stay home with them and an attempt is made to consider each situation individually.

However, according to the representative of the municipality of the city of Panevėžys, the tendency to visit kindergartens will be monitored and all possible ways to ensure the best possible control of infections will be explored. The municipality has also submitted proposals to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports.

“It just came to our attention then. If some guidelines are provided, maybe clearer decisions will be made at the municipal level,” said A. Burbienė.

In Panevėžys there are 29 state and 2 private kindergartens. Parents are asked to stay home with their children as much as possible, but, A. Burbienė emphasizes, in each case the individual situation is taken into account.

“For those parents who do not have the opportunity to telecommute, priority is also given to those parents who telecommute at home, but their work is intense enough that it is difficult to provide care and education to children. Opportunities have also been created for families at social risk. So we really take into account and create opportunities, ”said the representative of the municipality of the city of Panevėžys.

A. Burbienė also pointed out that already in January, there were almost no cases of coronavirus infection in urban kindergartens or rare and isolated cases were recorded, but according to today’s data, the coronavirus is recorded in 6 pre-school educational institutions in the city .

In Pasvalys, the trend is similar, but not in patients

Gvidas Vilys, director of the Department of Education and Sports of the Pasvalys District Municipality, also emphasized that there was an increase in the number of kindergarten children who were reintroduced into preschool institutions.

“Yesterday it was 100, last week it was 85-93 on different days, today we have reached 100 again. It is not a very high percentage of all, but it all started with a few children,” said G. Vilys.

According to him, the children of parents who do not have the opportunity to combine work and childcare returned to kindergarten first.

“We look closely at the possibilities: there are fathers who work. There are situations in which mothers raise their children and ask questions. Administrations consider each case case by case, they do not compare, they do not delay, but they understand that there may be circumstances in which even short-term care is required. (…) There are very different situations ”, emphasized the representative of the district municipality of Pasvalys.

G. Vilys also pointed out that the flow management capabilities of each institution are different. There are 3 preschool kindergartens in Pasvalys.

“They accept children basically without much problem, due to the fact that they have many educators, there are 10, 8 groups, a sufficient number of teachers. If necessary, everything is organized under the principle of brigade, so that if someone gets sick, other people appear, ”said the representative of the municipality.

However, in small towns it is more difficult to guarantee this principle: usually there is a group with an educator in kindergartens.

“There are parents who are tired of their children, (…) but there are also situations in which the mother raises three children and the father goes abroad, works as a truck driver, has not been around for a long time, so it is really possible for a person to get along with three schoolchildren, objective circumstances in which kindergarten can serve and take some burden off parents, ”said G. Vilys.

He is pleased that no coronavirus cases are currently being recorded in kindergartens. The Pasvalys district is also one of those where the epidemiological situation is better: the municipality is assigned to the so-called yellow zone.

“After October, (…) when there were several critical points in the area, we have strictly agreed with the managers that maximum flow management should be observed in those places,” said G. Vilys.

More than half of the pupils returned to kindergartens in Visaginas, which has a high morbidity

In turn, Asta Sieliūnienė, head of the Division of Education, Culture, Sports and State Language Control of the municipality of Visaginas, also seconded her colleagues from other municipalities.

“It just came to our knowledge then. If in the last days of December it was up to 40 percent. Children, now we have about 50 percent. And more”, – Delphi said A. Sieliūnienė.

According to her, the preschool staff learned to follow all the safety measures during the first quarantine, but sometimes challenges still arise.

“If there are sick people on staff and the people who have been by their side have to be isolated, it’s a challenge to find people to replace them quickly. For example, we had a couple of cases where it was necessary to ask for help from kitchen of one or another gym that is now fully operational remotely. So far, we can reconcile very collegially, “said A. Sieliūnienė.

The Visaginas representative pointed out that this type of situation is difficult to avoid completely, because the epidemiological situation in the city is bad. The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Visaginas in the last 14 days is 174, the municipality belongs to the so-called red zone and is the leader in the country in terms of morbidity.

“I think there is emotional fatigue (parental – aut.p.) and it is very human and natural. There are different families with different situations”, – A. Sieliūnienė spoke about parents’ decisions to send their children to kindergartens .

According to her, parents who raise school-age children sometimes face difficulties as well.

“Recently, we had to make decisions in a situation: a young mother whose husband works abroad is raising a baby for several months. She could not provide any certificate from her employer, but she really had to make sure she could take care of the baby at home. and that the beginner would go to school. That child also needs a calm and peaceful environment, and if the baby cries nearby it is not easy, “said the representative of the Visaginas municipality.

“We put a lot of effort into analyzing situations individually and reacting to them. We are trying to understand, not just bureaucratically, if there is a certificate or not. We are facing a specific situation,” summarized A. Sieliūnienė.

Delphi recalls that the government did not make decisions on additional quarantine releases on Wednesday, although earlier in the week the government’s emergency commission proposed allowing the opening of beauty and marketing businesses with separate entry from the field.

For his part, Vaidotas Zemlys Balevičius, a member of the Council of Health Experts, said he did not support plans to release the quarantine across the country. According to him, it would be possible to speak of releases in individual municipalities, where the situation is good, but maintaining movement restrictions between municipalities.

The government will consider the future course of managing the pandemic next week.