Some of the twelfths rebelled against the decision to return them to school: we do not want to take risks

Delfi has received a letter expressing the opinion of some graduates, in which they resent the decision of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (ŠMSM) to contact them again with Education. According to them, most of the graduates are outraged by such a decision of the Government and believe that it is not worth returning for three weeks, especially when the current unfavorable epidemiological situation prevails in Lithuania.

“Many of us say that we do not want to take such risks, especially due to the health of other members of our family, many of whom are at risk. This is too risky, especially when we are only talking about a period of one month. No We believe that a month changes nothing and, on the contrary, it will hurt.

“There are students who will have difficulties to return to contact learning due to their psychological condition, which can harm the results, because we study remotely for most of the school year, so we will have to adapt again, additional stress”, they said. insurance.

He also said that he sees the risk of schools becoming hotspots for coronavirus, as testing is not mandatory and many will certainly not meet all safety requirements. If outbreaks do occur, say the Twelfths, they would cause enormous damage, especially when tests are so close.

“Additionally, many graduates who do not have the opportunity to return, or who simply fear for their own safety and that of others, worry that refusing to return will not connect them to classes remotely. This would do much more damage since those students would be left without lessons at all. Attendance would increase dramatically.

Therefore, we propose that hybrid learning be available for those students who will not have the opportunity or will not want to return to contact learning. We believe that it is much better to use counseling, because for graduates it is more important to take exams ”.

At the same time, he announced the twelfth arguments presented during the poll:

“I don’t want to go back to contact learning, it no longer makes sense to do it for a month, I think we are independent enough to stay in distance learning.” Not all twelfth grade teachers and students are vaccinated for one reason or another (not necessarily reluctance to get vaccinated, there are more serious reasons), and we don’t want to bring the virus home to other family members. Also, we don’t want another outbreak of the virus right before exams, when it can re-close cities at any time, and it will be more difficult for those who attend a gym in another city to get there (schools will not change). In a few weeks). “

He sees no point in “resuscitating” contact education

This is also what Delfi’s mother from Vilnius wrote, who wanted to share her comments about this year’s graduates, who, according to her, are talked about so much, they are little done.
“From the always promising, as in January this year, the return of graduates to schools for contact education, which is constantly talked about. The Minister of Education, we will immediately” consider returning because we have to prepare for the exams. “

And finally, the “good news” after almost half a year of presentation, in the absence of 7 weeks for the exams, “is offered to graduates who return as of May 3. to contact education, combining daily education with distance education – it is proposed that at least 50 percent. the lessons would be carried out in the form of contact ”. From May 3, 2021 to May 21, there are exactly 3 weeks; that’s the time left for graduate lessons. I wonder what logical principle> = 50% of the contact lessons will be implemented during those 3 weeks plus the teacher tests, ”he asked.

“What crazy graduate will go to those> = 50% lessons, and the next part will still have to study at home, just with their new chaotic schedule, not their set 1.5 school years? May will be the busiest time for exam preparation and retake, and graduates will want to do it as they were used to in 1.5 years, because for a long time it has not made sense to resurrect contact training this year.

There are no contact inquiries for graduates in Vilnius, the daughter’s gym has long reported that the inquiries will take place after 05/21 “after school” – if for someone the inquiry is “live” anyway, for someone not – where are those “equal opportunities” for all graduates? Vilnius wondered.

The woman also indicated that graduates she knows will not be back in the gym starting May 3 because they just won’t.

“Ask high school graduates: 12th grade programs don’t come out, they don’t have time to prepare for exams, teachers, like high school graduates, are already emotionally apathetic from all the chaos and learning at a distance what the teachers themselves call The ‘imitation teaching’ lessons are carried out not all, but perhaps only half, and the same after 30 min Graduates study almost 80% most of the time. on their own or with money and mentoring opportunities. “

He asked where there is equal opportunity compared to last year’s graduates, with future years studying and studying in person, rather than 1.5 academic years at a full distance.

“And with those who do not have or have money for tutors when they are studying all year, instead of imitating some kind of consultation promised for many euros? Is education such a “priority” that there is deliberate chaos to “beat” this year’s high school graduates before treatment with psychiatrists after this year’s VBE session? “.

Learning gaps need to be filled

Sara Aškinytė, president of the Lithuanian Student Union (LMS), stated that her organization supports the Ministry’s decision to return twelfth grade students to schools. According to her, the efforts of the entire community will be needed to facilitate that return and there will not be a difficult transition period.

“We see those risks, but we think we can still deal with them. We both conducted a survey, and representatives of the student municipalities also largely agree that we should go back to schools nonetheless. This will help fill in the gaps that may have arisen due to distance learning and test preparation. “

When asked how graduates manage to use “live” consultations with teachers, S. Aškinytė said that they are carried out and really help students.

“Especially since it is really possible to pay individual attention to each student. Again, filling in those gaps in counseling really helps, but what we’ve noticed is that they don’t run smoothly everywhere. Certainly there are schools that practically do not organize consultations or are carried out with quite poor quality. We also get these kinds of complaints and they certainly don’t go well everywhere. Also, some students, especially in the districts, are slow to take this opportunity for a little consultation, ”he explained.

According to the president of the LMS, you can see the difference that in one process this process is going well and in others it is stagnating. This happened because of this, says S. Aškinytė, that in some places the students are not as motivated or the school itself is not interested in making such inquiries.

“For example, coordinating them so that they take place at a convenient time and are accessible to students. In that case, we are really unhappy. “

True, you added that there will definitely be some drawbacks and you need to prepare for them, but you also need to understand that it won’t be easy right away.

“However, as I mentioned, it is necessary to fill certain educational gaps, and especially for the natural sciences, where contact science is needed to have a much clearer understanding of what is taught. The risk posed by the return of graduates should certainly be worth it ”.

When asked if the twelfths were willing to be vaccinated, S. Aškinytė commented that, to his knowledge, now almost 50 percent. graduates have been vaccinated and that number is not a bad thing, since little time has passed since the start of vaccination.

“We’re glad they want to get vaccinated, although some have questions about the AstraZeneca vaccine and the second dose. However, from what we’ve heard, high school graduates should be able to get a second dose sooner, and that should solve the problem. “.

In his opinion, it would be worse if the twelfths fell ill with coronavirus during exams and had to take the exams in a repeat session.

“It is like a candle for the dead”

Audrius Jurgelevičius, Vice President of the Lithuanian Union of Education and Science (LŠMPS), commenting on the return of graduates to classes at the end of the school year, commented that he could not speak on behalf of all teachers, but his personal opinion was that “It is like a candle for the deceased.”

“It did not help and if it was considered that only the contact could adequately prepare for the exam, it was necessary to find ways to get the students back to class earlier. Such an unsuccessful attempt to return students in part to class shows that no one is ready: not the schools, not the students, not the parents, not the teachers. In my opinion, it is better to focus now and help teachers motivate children to prepare for exams.

Basically, it is not very dependent on the teacher if the child is not learning. This is my personal opinion, and there is also a wide range of opinions in our union. However, as an organization, we believe that this is unlikely to be the case, as it is clear that neither teachers nor students will be able to provide security. ”

He says that we must finally recognize that this school year has been “lost” in the sense that there will be no contact work schools and that we must start thinking about the future. When asked to comment on Minister J. Šiugždinienė’s words that he hopes students will finally be able to return to schools on September 1, A. Jurgelevičius did not skimp on irony.

“Recently, it seems to me that Lithuania is becoming a theological state. This means that everyone “expects” something. The president believes that mass vaccination will begin one day, the minister believes in something else, the prime minister also believes in something. However, as will be the case and there are some rational arguments that “there will be such an epidemiological situation on September 1,” “there will be such a guarantee of safety.”

After all, no one knows what will happen to mass vaccinations, how the public will react to those vaccines, which vaccines are “healthy” and which ones are not “healthy.” You know better than I do that those opinions change every week. On the other hand, last year the security instructions of the institutions on how to open those schools were followed, but in the end we still had to go back to distance education ”.