This was not the case yet on September 1 in Lithuania: some students wait for lessons at home, in the ranks of teachers – fear of fines

Although a few weeks ago Algirdas Monkevičius, the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, urged schools to prepare for the rather ordinary outdoor celebrations at the beginning of the year, today students of different ages go to many educational institutions in small groups. As mentioned on September 1, this could be decided by educational institutions themselves, but large rallies were abandoned due to the threat of the coronavirus throughout Lithuania.

For example, in Kaunas, not all students opened the school doors at 9 o’clock.

“Most of the schools in Kaunas have adopted a celebratory format such that the vast majority of students meet only in their classrooms, the meeting will not last more than one lesson, the meeting times are organized so that students do not gather and keep a safe distance to meet at different times flows of students, ”said Eglė Andriuškienė, deputy director of the municipal administration of the city of Kaunas, at the Delfi11 fair.

According to the interlocutor, only students in grades 1-5, as well as some twelfth graders, can enjoy the minimal celebration.

“Some entered on September 1 for the first time, some who changed schools entered on September 1 for the first time, and some did so for the last time,” said a municipal spokeswoman.

However, there are many more questions and concerns for teachers and parents than today, and what awaits them tomorrow. According to the Lithuanian Union of Education and Science (LŠMPS), history teacher Audrius Jurgelevičius, it is still not clear how the work in schools will be carried out this year.

“I have the impression that the educational community has been working since September 1. He is involved in a kind of great experiment in which doctors, epidemiologists, specialists will evaluate how the virus spreads in a medium as specific as the Minister of Health called it. I think that school is definitely not a place for medical experiments, ”said A. Jurgelevičius.

You will have to study at home part of the time.

The Kaunas City Council took 15 minutes to make the decision to legalize the coeducational model in schools in the temporary capital. The way the lessons will be conducted was not decided until the eve of September 1. Meanwhile, in other parts of Lithuania, according to parent and teacher representatives, there is no clarity even when welcoming the new school year.

According to the blended teaching model validated by the Kaunas Municipality, lessons in schools will not be taught all the time. So far, this model will apply to 11 schools.

“The situation will be different in each school, in part, because the flows of students and their ages are different, but we have envisioned such a common pattern with school communities, principals, and educational staff in grades 1-5. students who are younger and who need constant contact with the teacher to participate in the daily educational process, grades 6-8. students would partially participate in the distance learning process; distance and contact education would change weekly and grades 9-12. education would change every two weeks ”, – Eglė Andriuškienė, deputy director of the municipal administration of the city of Kaunas, should explain how the educational process should be in these educational institutions.

Yet parents and teachers wonder what officials have been up to all summer and why schools will have to implement the new requirements overnight.

“I find it strange that when we had the whole summer and were able to put all the issues very clearly, a decision was made the day before for the school communities and leaders to implement it overnight. Maybe it was necessary to have that meeting on September 15 or December 20 and make decisions, and say that they should have implemented them then, ”said Darius Trečiakauskas, representative of the Lithuanian Parents Forum (LTF).

A. Jurgelevičius also said that the educational system, parents and teachers could prepare for the new school year in June. However, he claimed, this was not done. For her part, E. Andriuškienė assured that throughout the summer the school communities have been talked about and that the decision on the eve of the new school year is only the last point.

“The calculations on how to manage the flows, provide separate entrances, inform the school community about how the educational process will be carried out were carried out throughout the summer. Each school presented their suggestions, wishes, indicated how many classrooms would be missing to carry out the daily educational process (contact method – “Delfi”). In each case, we decide if this could be done in a mixed way or if it could be solved by other means, ”he said.

However, according to the teachers’ representative, such statements are surprising, as it is clear that both teachers and school leaders were on vacation during the summer and a continuous dialogue could not really take place.

Fearing for their own safety

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sports issued recommendations on how the educational process should be carried out in the next school year, just a few weeks before September 1. And while they needed to bring more clarity, the interlocutors said, they caused even more confusion.

“Now we have the requirements, we have a series of questions, but we don’t have the answers. If we look at the spring, the question is, why haven’t the schools returned from distance education to normal? Those demands that have been made are unrealistic and probably impractical. Today, the same requirements are being imposed on schools and both Veryga and the Minister of Education Monkevičius say that we will not penalize school leaders who do not meet all the requirements. Because obviously it is clear that it is physically impossible to implement all those requirements ”, D. Trečiakauskas was angry.

For his part, A. Jurgelevičius says the teachers are concerned for his safety. According to him, it is not yet clear what minimum protective measures educators will need and who will provide them.

Let’s say that decision to wear masks for teachers. A week ago there was talk that it should be used all the time. After that, the decision arose that keeping the distance of two meters as if it was no longer necessary, but when you get closer to the student you will already need it. This option can only be offered by someone who has no idea how the lesson is going.

Here is just one example, but there is more. About managing the mystical flow. I have no idea how to manage those flows, I do some kind of flow mapping. About teacher tests, guarantees for teachers. No one has said what the minimum protective measures will be, whether such masks are sufficient or whether the suits that doctors wear are needed. There are no answers to so many questions ”, the interviewee was surprised.

He stated that if in Kaunas the decision on the school year appeared on the eve of the beginning of the school year, in other cities it is not even on September 1.

Passion lifts masks, speaks of impending fines

It is also not clear yet today if students will be required to wear masks during breaks. Although the Ministry of Health has not yet adopted such a requirement, A. Monkevičius expressed the position that such protection is necessary.

Whenever the ministries share different positions, the municipalities make the decision to establish specific rules for the use of masks.

“School communities have expressed concern about managing the flow of students during breaks. That is, when students are not sitting in separate classrooms and may have to go to the bathroom and walk the hallways and go to the lunchroom or elsewhere. We have heard from school communities that they want children to wear masks in such cases.

There is no concrete decision by the director of operations to wear masks, although we heard the position of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport that there are no objections to this. As the parents are the legal representatives of the children and they know the best interests of the children, we decided to conduct a survey and find out if they would agree to wear masks outside of class, ”said E. Andriuškienė.

According to her, on September 2. Schools will have already informed their communities if it has been decided that protective measures will also be mandatory for students at some point.

The teacher representative, meanwhile, wonders why such a question is being posed.

“The general situation in Lithuania is such that the instructions of the director of operations are the same, the opinion of the SMSM sometimes differs, the responsibility is left to the municipalities. (…) I spoke with the principal of a school and she told me: how I would like to be a teacher tomorrow, not a principal. I think there are more leaders of this type, because they will have all the responsibility, fines and other sanctions.

The only thing that is clear to me is that all those students whose masks are being considered are interviewed when they go to the store to do it. When you go to the event indoors, you must wear masks. Now the question at school is: do you need to wear masks? To me this problem as a whole seems overkill, I’m just looking for an answer to why such obvious things are still being considered. For me, I found the answer that it is not clear who will be responsible for not using or using masks incorrectly, because minors do not assume responsibility, the responsibility lies with their parents or guardians and with the school, more precisely on a person of the school: the principal who is responsible for safety, “said A. Jurgelevičius.

The interviewee predicted that due to rising tensions, even more educators could request dismissal.

“It will increase not only because of the virus, but because for decades no one has solved the problem of teacher renewal. Last year’s remedies are purely cosmetic. “Many of the teachers left not because they were afraid of catching the coronavirus, but because they were tired of the stress that comes with every September 1,” he lamented.