Few young people are infected at school. Parliamentary representative believes counties misunderstand “red level”

Less than 6 percent of infected teens are believed to have been infected at school. However, there will be home classes for upper secondary students in Viken and Vestland. Storting’s representative, Solveig Schytz (V) de Viken, believes that this has been misunderstood.

On Thursday, both Viken and the Vestland County Municipality announced that they will introduce a red tier in upper secondary schools, in line with what Education Minister Guri Melby (V) writes on Facebook:

“In areas with a higher risk of infection, we now recommend that upper secondary schools switch to the red level.”

The red level is the strictest in the authorities “Model of traffic light for upper secondary schools”:

• At the yellow level, all classes can teach together.
• At the red level, classes are divided into smaller cohorts, which must not have contact with each other.

But here it gets difficult, as it says in the guide:

“In upper secondary schools, students are mixed in different subjects and therefore it is not possible to introduce cohorts.”

Two county municipalities send students home

Viken County Township goes further with crown measurements:

“The red level means that teaching in upper secondary schools is mainly carried out digitally and that students do not have to attend school,” Viken writes on her website.

Some students in the Bergen area suffer the same fate:

– Schools must ensure that students and teachers have more distance between them. This means fewer students in the classroom, and thus there will be a homeschool in combination with a regular school for some, says Bjørn Lyngedal, county director of education and competition in western Norway for Bergens Tidende.

You think homeschooling is misunderstood

Storting’s representative, Solveig Schytz (V) from Viken, believes that the red level should not lead to homeschooling. In that way, she believes the county of origin has misunderstood.

Rather, he believes that the transition from yellow to red has to do with distance and local adaptations:

– At the red level, students and staff must maintain at least one meter of distance in all situations, not just outside the classroom as in the yellow level. The distance requirement can be difficult to maintain in small rooms with full classes and students must be divided into smaller groups. Therefore, it is important that the good solutions are evaluated in each individual school, Schytz believes.

Less than 6 percent infected at school

Among the 1,620 cases of infection in the 13-19 age group from the start of the outbreak to the end of October, less than 6% stated that school was a likely site of infection.

This is demonstrated by Thursday’s note “Infection in young people in Norway” from the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH).

– Schools are essential for the education, development and social life of young people. The students themselves have expressed that they want to avoid new rounds of homeschooling. Therefore, we encourage students, staff and parents to support the infection control councils both inside and outside of school so that it is possible to maintain the yellow level and ensure the most normal daily life, writes in the notes FHI Chief Physician Margrethe Greve-Isdahl.

Storting representative Solveig Schytz recalls that schools have been at the highest level before:

– Schools were operating at a red level when they reopened this spring, so schools have experience with this. Hope you can make sure there will be some physical assistance for the students even if it is the red level. It is especially important for students of professional subjects. Young people are in a vulnerable phase, and if they don’t get a physical offer, we run the risk of losing them, says Schytz.

Viken: can make local adjustments

County council leader Tonje Brenna (Labor Party) in Viken says congestion on school buses is one of the reasons the county will now use more home registration.

– We have more than 45,000 students in upper secondary school and around 35,000 use school transport. Our schools and buses are full and it is difficult to maintain the subway rule. Therefore, we are now asking schools to use digital teaching more, he writes in an email to Aftenposten.

She emphasizes that principals still have the authority to adapt the school day to the local situation.

– For students in need of facilitation, vulnerable students and in practical subjects, it should still be possible with physical assistance to school, write more.

She says the county is continually considering more local accommodations.

– I want to emphasize again that schools are not closed. Greater use of digital teaching is encouraged. We have full confidence that our principals organize the school day in a good way adapted to the local situation, he says.