Some beginners will return to a Vilnius school next week – they will apply an innovative test method

“Earlier this week, we participated in a meeting with the Council of Government Experts and received a proposal to do a pilot project in one of the Vilnius schools, which we would choose where contact education could be resumed,” Povilas Poderskis, Vilnius City Municipal Administration Director, said at a press conference on Friday.

According to him, this proposal was presented to the school’s parent council on Thursday and was accepted “very positively.”

According to Mr. Podersky, the school was chosen on the basis of several criteria: its adequate size and the fact that it has three branches, which gives flexibility to decisions and allows only part of the facilities to be opened.

“There were several criteria. We have chosen a school that is neither too big nor too small, that is to say, the three branches is a very important aspect, because then the flexibility of our own decisions increases ”, he said.

According to the head of administration, how many and what classes of students will return to classes will be clear when he learns that families of various classes of students agree to be tested for COVID-19.

“We will get in touch with all the elementary schools in this selected school and see how many of them will agree to participate in the project,” Podersky said.

According to him, so far not everyone can or wants to take the test.

“Some families are abroad, some are on the beach, some are on farms, not everyone wants to take those tests,” he said.

The director of the administration stressed that the municipality cannot force tests or return to live education.

They will be subjected to a combined test method, in which samples from all members of the same family are examined at the same time.

According to P. Podersky, all the decisions required for this pilot project have not yet been approved, so it will be possible to start the project on Monday only if “we win the war with the bureaucracy” and make timely decisions from the Government, operations manager and others. .

After a week of learning, the children will go on vacation to determine if the virus has spread to their families.

Teachers at the mentioned school will be vaccinated in a general order: according to P. Poderski, this strategy is based on evidence.

According to him, the decision with the Government began to be coordinated from the beginning of the week.

It was discussed in the government for about a month.

Rasa Jakilaitienė, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, told BNS that the decision to resume primary education in one of the Vilnius schools has been debated for about a month.

“It is being discussed in individual ministries, in the Government itself and with the Council of Experts. The council of experts has been discussing all this for a month (…) the scheme has been presented, the specialists have been preparing, working and starting “, said.

According to R. Jakilaitienė, this issue was last discussed in the Government on Tuesday and then it was decided to carry out a test.

He confirmed that a group testing approach could be applied to them and their families before enrolling the newcomers.

“The pilot is there for you to see how what you came up with works (…) A Vilnius school has been chosen, and students and teachers will be evaluated,” said the representative of the Prime Minister.

R. Jakilaitienė also pointed out that for the project to be implemented, the Government will have to change the decree regulating the quarantine regime, as it currently prohibits swarming, and the resumption of classroom education would mean that this would inevitably be done. .

The Minister of Health Arūnas Dulkys will also need to sign a separate order regarding permission to study in the classrooms.

According to the representative of the Prime Minister, it has not yet been agreed exactly when the Cabinet of Ministers will decide to make this decision. It is expected to do so next week.