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Criticisms of the Ministry of Education and the coordinating body for the beginning of the school year come from Professor Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s representative to the WHO, who told Digi24 that the authorities responsible for managing the preparation period for the new year did nothing more than create confusion between parents and teachers.
“Do you know what the problem is? We try, as far as possible, for the world to listen to us or not to listen to us, I agree or disagree, I mean me, my colleagues who try to provide information in the area of health, there are people who will do it to also provide information on the education area. Now, I think there is a bit of … let’s say confusion, in the sense that this activity had to be coordinated in some way. And if the local authorities or those who run the schools are responsible for the actual organization of the activity, I think all these things, all these unanswered questions had to be answered and someone had to organize, coordinate this. Who do you think should have coordinated and integrated all these things? Because I don’t think it is enough to issue an order or a guide from time to time “- said Professor Alexandru Rafila, representative of Romania in the WHO.
Flexibility had to be explained. The example of the geography teacher
“And if we talk about the decision locally, we are witnessing some stereotypes. I mean, I have three types of scenarios: red, yellow and green. Let’s see why we apply a certain scenario and how we apply a certain scenario taking into account the profile of the school Because if we say this, that we are flexible and in the end the school, together with the Inspection, together with DSP, decides how the school should work, then this must happen in reality. “Alexandru Rafila commenting on a statement from the minister. of Education, Monica Anisie, who had said that local authorities should not wait for decisions “from the center.”
“This flexibility had to be explained and explained to all hierarchies, they had to know the DSP, the School Inspection and finally the educational unit, which are the elements of flexibility that allow adaptation,” added Alexandru Rafila.
He also gave an example: if a geography teacher falls ill with COVID and has taught in five different classes of a school, that school must close, according to the rules established by the authorities. But if the teacher was in the department, did not walk around the classroom, wore a mask, like the students, the possibility of contagion from the teacher to the students is minimal or non-existent. The order establishes that an epidemiological investigation is carried out and one of the following four points is applied: 1, 2, 3, 4. The point referring to such a situation says “the school is closing.” “Well, if I do an epidemiological investigation, then I have to give the public health authorities the opportunity to find that the infection is not transmitted and the school can continue its activity” – said Alexandru Rafila.
Much confusion and lack of coordination
“I think that this entire period in which there is a lot of confusion suffers from a lack of coordination and lack of information (…) I think there would be many points that the Ministry of Education would win if it had, at least now, at 12 noon. – a thought, a strategy that favors the application of these measures on a voluntary basis, to understand both parents and children how important it is to respect them ”, commented the president of the Romanian Society of Microbiology.
“All this public debate where it seems to me that partisanship has sometimes been overdone, including the desire to compromise any attempt to honestly inform people, I think is very dangerous. After all, this disease affects everyone, regardless of political orientation, beliefs about the existence or not of the virus, “said Professor Rafila, recalling that he himself was persuaded by some suggestions made, such as the one in the Recommend wearing a mask even at home, if there is an interaction between grandparents and grandchildren.
Editor: Luana Păvălucă
