School leaders lined up on what was happening in the classrooms right now – the behavior of the students was simply surprising

Follow the safety requirements

Edita Matulevičienė, director of Alytus Dainava Progymnasium, is happy to run a small school where it is possible to create the conditions for safe learning.

“We have faced many challenges and innovations. The main document that guided us was the decision of the director of operations, which lists many points of what the school director must guarantee and what to do ”, reveals behind the scenes E. Matulevičienė.

“We have done everything possible to keep the school community safe. The Ministers of Health and Education emphasized the need to fight for the best possible result ”, shared the school principal.

According to the interlocutor, she is happy with the school, which is run by: “Alytus Dainava Progymnasium is established in a sufficiently large building, so that we can successfully regulate the flow of students: primary school students do not meet children from primary classes “.

E. Matulevičienė points out that the principals of some schools do their best, but they become hostages of the building in which they work: “Not all schools can guarantee the movement of flows or safe distances between children.”

Children’s understanding shocked

Edmundas Grigaliūnas, director of the Vilnius Žirmūnai Gymnasium, shares his first impressions of the beginning of the school year. True, the educator says there was certainly no shortage of challenges and innovations.

“The challenges facing our school are the same as in other educational institutions. Because the situation with the coronavirus pandemic was constantly changing, we had to do everything in a short time and quickly,” recalls the school principal, adding that The school staff made every effort to ensure both the safety of the students and the educational process.

“We have met with the ministers of health and education, making sure that we do not have to follow all the instructions of the operations manager, but the most important thing is to take into account the possibilities of the school and do everything possible. We did what we could have done ”, explains E. Grigaliūnas.

The school director reveals how the educational processes are developed in the school where he works: “There are many children in our school, so we cannot guarantee the safe flow of flows if all the students are in the school at the same time. Therefore, we have developed a procedure whereby first and third grade students study in odd and even weeks in distance education. Second and fourth graders study the opposite schedule. “

And how do children manage to comply with the new rules? “The cooperation of the children themselves surprised me in a good way. All students wear masks during breaks, we don’t get any resistance from them. The students are aware of the situation, they don’t need to make any comment, ”says E. Grigaliūnas.

Preparations for the new school year began in the spring.

Vaidotas Kalinas, head of the Department of Education and Sports of the Ukmergė district municipality, says that preparations for the new school year have started in advance: the first works were carried out in May.

“In June, before Jonines, representatives of the municipality of Ukmergė met with the directors of educational institutions, analyzed how schools should prepare for work as of September 1 according to three scenarios: regular education, mixed education and distance education “recalls V. Kalin the initial preparation.

The head of the department reveals that the municipality of Ukmergė has received 28 laptops for teachers and more than 600 tablets: “Obviously, it will be necessary to strengthen.”

“In the first week of September, the awareness of the Ukergergians – students, parents, teachers – was surprising. The good thing is that during breaks, all members of the school community wear masks, they keep their distance. The impression is that everyone they understand that they work and live in different conditions. Both teachers and students want to study at school, not at home. It is nice and pleasant to go to school “, – a representative of the Ukmergė district municipality shares his impressions.

V. Kalin also mentions the problems that educators face.

“One of them is the old school buildings with small classrooms, too small. In such cases, it is difficult to ensure a safe distance between students,” says the specialist. As another problem, the man identifies teaching aids, or more It is precisely interactive whiteboards, which teachers, unfortunately, cannot bring with them to all classes, however, he argued that finding solutions could overcome all difficulties and could easily guarantee the quality and safety of education.