Teachers: We are sacrificed, we are not babysitters – Society

Teachers are outraged by the decision of the Crisis Staff that only students from first to fourth grade are exempt from the transition to online classes, and the request for distance training for these students that will be organized for Monday yesterday. education unions.

Some of them also demanded the closure of preschool institutions, since a large number of educators are infected with the corona virus.

Dissatisfaction with the latest KS decision has mainly prompted the authorities to educate younger school-age children because there is no one to care for them at home, as most parents are employed.

The teachers feel “sacrificed” and say they are not babysitters. However, schools warn that it is not only teachers who are discriminated against.

In the same position are foreign language teachers who teach the lower grades of primary school, and for now it is not known whether the decision to switch to online work also applies to principals, professional associates in schools (pedagogues , psychologists), secretaries and clerical workers, and what will be with janitors and “aunts.”

This is just one of a series of unknowns to which the public awaits answers from the Ministry of Education.

How students will be assessed during online classes, whether they go to winter break on December 21 and at the end of the first semester, how long will the online classes last, whether the teachers will teach distance classes from their homes or from school, these are just some of the questions we send to the Ministry, but we do not receive any answers until the conclusion of this issue of Danas.

The Serbian Teachers Association will also ask the Government and Crisis Staff to transfer students from first to fourth grade to online classes, the president of that professional association of teachers, Snezana Milojkovic, announced by Danas.

– We understand why teachers are required to teach in school and that it is important for children to properly adopt the didactic content, but in a situation where health is in danger, we believe that it should be first, and everything else will be make up for. Teachers are very busy because they work three times, at school with one, then with another group of students, and then online with children who attend classes from home. We fear that more and more teachers are sick and that we are endangering the health of children, but also our own health, says Milojković.

The Serbian Education Workers’ Union warned yesterday that the youngest children are an age group in which the transmission of the virus is very active, so they appealed to the authorities for teachers to move to online classes.

Vesna Jerotijevic, a teacher from Cacak, who is also a member of the Union, wonders if the teachers were “forgotten or completely neglected as part of the educational process, or if the Ministry of Education removed them from their number to sacrifice them to save education.”

– Perhaps those of us who work in the “lower” classes are lower-class citizens, unworthy of the right to switch to online classes. We call on parents to support us in our efforts to switch to online classes, Jerotijević notes.

Professor Marija Stošić, spokesperson for the Kraljevo Education Union, also addressed an open letter to the Minister of Education, Branko Ružić, saying that teachers are not babysitters.

“Animators and professionals are hired in each institution who will take care of the employees’ children under special conditions, while we take care of their education,” Stošić said, noting that maintaining social distance between children is impossible, especially when it comes to of younger people. years.

“There are fewer and fewer staff trained in education. Could there be a solution for someone to retire graduates to replace patients and teachers in isolation? Currently, the only possible solution is to move teaching to an online environment. And when all this happens and when the number of sick and deceased begins to decrease, then think about possible models and the gradual return of a part of the educational system to the classrooms, “Stosic said in a letter to the minister.

– The epidemiological situation in kindergartens and schools has worsened. We have more and more confirmed cases of kovid 19 infection among educators, teachers, extracurricular staff, but also children. Crisis staff were not allowed to shut out the younger preschool and school-age institutions. We believe that we are all part of the educational system and that there should be equal conditions and standards for all. We do not live on another planet, or in another country, if teaching in schools is risky for older students, it is also risky for younger ones. We understand the need for parents to care for their children while at work. We are also aware that learning in direct communication is the most effective. However, the most important thing now is to preserve health and life, believes Dušan Kokot, president of the Vojvodina Independent Union of Teachers.

In Cacak, more than eight percent of infected teachers

The Čačak Education Union (SOČ) has made the decision that all schools will switch to online work from Monday. SOC President Vladimir Adzic says per Danas that school principals and parents have been informed about this decision, and that teachers who are members of this union will teach online classes starting Monday.

– This is a union decision. Our job is to protect people’s lives, and the crisis staff told us that there are no crowns from first to fourth grade. The director of school administration commented that the SOC’s decision was illegal. But I didn’t ask people not to work, but we believe that teachers are also teachers and it is my obligation to protect their lives as well. Right now, more than eight percent of infected teachers are in Čačak or in isolation, school principals are having increasing difficulty finding replacements for those absent, Adžić notes.

Kindergarten with confirmation?

The presidents of the two preschool employee unions asked the Government and Crisis Staff to take up the decision that only children whose parents are required to be physically present at work can attend kindergartens, which they must document with confirmation from the employer. The presidents of the Independent Union of Early Childhood Education and GSPRS “Nezavisnost” note that the number of infected people among employees in kindergartens has increased dramatically, that due to the inability to provide replacements, the educational group is merging and is not possible to make a distance between the children.

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