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Although not everyone in the country has received the coronavirus vaccine, the government has been administering it since September 13. introduce certain requirements. Some places will only be accessible to residents with passports. It is with this document that students access the university auditoriums from the beginning of the new academic year.
Lithuanian higher education institutions were looking for solutions on how to seamlessly verify passports of university community opportunities. In some places, new employees were even hired. Already in the first weeks, it was clear that the processes were still stagnant. Queues were formed at the entrances to the faculties.
Ensures queues don’t form everywhere
The news portal tv3.lt contacted several Lithuanian higher education institutions, such as Vilnius University (VU), Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Vilnius Tech), Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) and Kaunas University of Technology (KTU). Some claim that the options passport verification process takes longer, but there are no queues.
“Because many students study remotely, the whole process runs smoothly: flows are optimized. Students who do not have a valid passport cannot participate in classes,” said Nora Skaburskienė, Director of the Directorate of Studies Vilnius Technologicals.
Representatives of KTU University assure that due to opportunity passports, a new system has even been developed, in which students must declare if they have an opportunity passport. And the university has a team that can verify if the data is correct.
“As for the queues, we do not have them, we have prepared an information system in which we can monitor the compliance of both staff and students with the requirements established by the Government.
At the beginning of the semester, before registering for the master classes, practices, students will have to fill in the information in this system, whether they have a passport (GP) or other relevant documents. The university has a team that will periodically verify the veracity of these data. Furthermore, this system is also seen by teachers: if the student does not have a GP or other relevant documents at the conference, the teacher will have to ask the student to leave the auditorium, ”said Mantas Lapinskas, KTU media representative .
LSMU students also had to fill out certain forms in the university systems, but still, their passports are verified.
“Passports of opportunities for students are reviewed. Students are examined at the entrance of academic units or auditoriums. The university’s internal human resources are sufficient for these inspections: study administrators, professors. The process takes a little longer than the usual student attendance rating, but there are no queues, ”said LSMU communication specialists.
VU had problems, but they are solving them
The biggest problems with passport verification occurred at Vilnius University. The university faculties in the heart of the capital’s old town have only a few entrances. University representatives explain that this is one of the reasons that queues formed in early September.
“Because this activity is not common for the university, and the facilities do not have many separate entrances, there are queues of students at checkpoints in some places or at certain times. <...> Queues are more common in the faculties of the old town and in the morning. 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 VU representative Liudmila Januškevičienė.
VU students in queues interviewed by the news portal tv3.lt assured that although the queues are long, they move quickly.
“It just came to our notice then. It might just take a few minutes before it happens, it’s not a big deal,” said Kristijonas, a student in line.
Opportunity passports are verified by both hired staff and faculty.
The new school year was welcomed by the university community through the hiring of staff. They were needed for the same passport verification opportunities. It is true that in some institutions this work is carried out by the teachers themselves.
“During the contact sessions, you must carry with you an identity document and an Opportunities Passport, since its validity / possession can be randomly verified by professors, employees designated by the dean of the respective faculty or employees of the Directorate of Studies . This additional function only requires employee participation, ”explained a representative from Vilnius Tech.
And VU opportunity passports are verified for a fee. In late August, the university sent letters to its students with a job offer. He states that the job of verifying the opportunity passport is not voluntary, but paid. Students are recruited and paid. For one hour – 4 euros before taxes.
“The verification of the opportunity passports of the students is carried out at the entrances to the faculties. Students hired for this job in their spare time from lectures, administrative staff, and outside staff. In addition, the service of the security company was bought, ”says L. Januškevičienė.
Change the order of the students
The government decided on Wednesday to change the requirements for the passport of opportunity. For example, it was decided to deny passport in long-distance public transport, to admit students to conferences with preventive COVID-19 tests for the time being. In addition, you will not need a passport of opportunity at gas stations. It was also decided that access passports would be easier to obtain through rapid antigen tests.
It was decided not only to waive the passport requirement for long-distance public transportation, but also to allow students to attend conferences with COVID-19 preventive testing for the time being. The Council of Ministers approved these decisions at its meeting on Wednesday, they will take effect from next week.
“It is related to education, some of our students travel by ferry, train or bus to another city,” said Deputy Minister of Health Aušra Bilotienė Motiejūnienė at the government meeting.
According to her, at the same time that the decision of the Emergency Operations Manager will toughen the requirements for compliance with distances in transportation, it will be necessary to wear masks.
“But without the possibility of a passport, children will be able to travel to schools or to medical institutions from a distance, if necessary. This would apply to all transport: buses, ferries, trains, please accept that there is no need for a passport, there would be stricter provisions by decision of the operations manager, “added the vice minister.
The proposal was also supported by Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
Read more about it here.
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