Can schools open on June 1, parents send students to school?

05/01/2020 World

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National Education Minister Ziya Selçuk said in a recent statement that schools can be opened on June 1 if the normalization process continues as expected. Parents, educators and unions speaking to the Turkish BBC are not interested in the possibility of schools opening on June 1.

Minister Selçuk made the announcement on CNN Türk, which he attended on Wednesday night. The minister stated in the press release on distance education on the morning of that day, that distance education was extended until May 31, but did not give any information on the date of the students’ return to schools.

According to the MEB calendar, the academic year was expected to end on Friday, June 19 of this year.

Minister Selçuk stated in his statement Wednesday night that he saw no problem opening schools for 19 days: “We receive tens of thousands of requests from our teachers, parents, students. There is an expectation to open as soon as possible. Health and Our children’s safety is important to us. ” we open our schools as soon as we are safe. “

So are the physical conditions right for schools to open on June 1? How do parents, educators, and service companies view children returning to school?

“Everyone looks this year ‘over’ the eyes”

İlknur Kaya, head of the Veli-Der Parent-Student Association, says parents who are members of the association do not expect to send their children to school in June, saying: “Most parents have no expectations. for this year”.

Kaya summarizes parents’ concerns with 3 elements:

“No one believes that the risk of outbreaks will end in June. Even if the numbers drop too low, it is believed that the danger will not pass. Second, parents have heard of the new disease of the immune system that is said to have spread. in Europe and it affects children, and therefore they are very concerned. “

“Finally, there is very little time between June 1 and the closing date of schools. According to parents, there is no way to send students to school for this short time, they cannot take anything in terms of education. They think this risk is not worth taking for 15 days. “

“Eighth grade to enter the High School Transition Exam (LGS) and the Institution of Higher Education Exam (YKS) are on the agenda for first grade. Everyone else is seeing it this year,” says Kaya.

Additionally, Kaya says that with the abolition of intercity travel bans, many families are preparing to leave town to spend out of town, with their extended families, or in their summer houses.

According to Kaya, one of the reasons parents don’t want schools to open is that most parents who have to work during the epidemic sent their children to their family’s elders for care and the difficulty to establish the old order for 15 days.

Students celebrated April 23 National Children's Sovereignty Day in their homes this year due to the coronavirus epidemic. — Students celebrated April 23 National Children’s Sovereignty Day in their homes this year due to the coronavirus epidemic.

“No one can afford to send their child to school”

Ömer Yılmaz, who is a teacher and reads to fifth and ninth grade children, says that no parent is willing to send their children to school in June.

By affirming that Minister Selçuk’s statement on June 1 is not a surprise to them, Yılmaz affirms that this decision can not only be made by the Ministry, but that parents ‘and teachers’ associations must also be consulted in addition to the Scientific Committee .

Yılmaz says parents are concerned about the second wave of the epidemic and that “no one can afford to send their children to school,” especially if 3 children are believed to be sitting in the same order in some crowded classes in public schools. .

By emphasizing that children need to get out of the house, Yılmaz believes that children may want to go to school, but that the possible process in June will not contribute to children in terms of education.

Are schools physically ready to return?

The class occupancy rate raises question marks about the expectation that students can continue their education sitting in a row.

Education Reform said that it differed quite a bit in the physical conditions in the Yeliz Turkey Initiative schools for the needy, which will have to be adapted to the planning of each school to do to ensure the social distance expressed in the schools:

“The total number of students per classroom in Turkey is not very high, but it is seen great differences between the provinces. Therefore, the measures and physical needs on this subject from one province to another, or even can vary from one school to another. “

Latif Selvi, Secretary General of Eğitim Bir Sen, said: “It does not seem so easy to open schools without reaching a point of pandemic.”

“Typically two students are placed in each row, but even one student in the class can be risky at this time. Therefore, one row should be left between students. Therefore, the size of the student in the classes can drop to 10-12, which can cause problems for the physical infrastructure of schools. ” “

The National Education Minister, Ziya Selçuk, stated that they were in contact with the Scientific Committee on the arrangement of seats in exams and that “they would take all kinds of measures in the most powerful way.”

Hygiene problem in schools.

However, considering the physical conditions of the schools, the only problem is not the occupancy of the classes.

Yeliz Düşkün from the Education Reform Initiative says the hygiene problem in schools is a “general problem” and becomes more important in the coronavirus epidemic process, regardless of the physical conditions that vary from school to school :

“Problems like insufficient toilet cleaning in schools and a shortage of soap have been common for a long time. In our ‘Life at School’ research, we saw that the biggest negativity at school was the problem of hygiene , especially the hygiene of the toilet in many provinces. as we face “.

The hobbyist says that not only in terms of the possibility of June 1, but that every time schools open, the first problem to be addressed is hygiene in schools.

School cleaning costs are covered, to some extent, by the state-provided budget for schools, but are primarily provided by school unit budgets.

The hobbyist emphasizes that this system should change after the coronavirus epidemic: “After that, it is necessary to allocate more public resources to this element, reducing the dependence of the school family union budget on the hygiene costs of schools, because the problem of hygiene in schools where the school unit cannot raise a lot of money and where relatively poor children go. ” it is being experienced. “

On the other hand, cleaning and disinfection activities were carried out in many schools during the 2-week period (March 16-30) during which schools were on vacation due to the epidemic.

How will school services be guaranteed?

It is also unclear how services will be organized if schools open in June and the provision of vehicles for students to sit in seats at intervals.

A service operator speaking to the Turkish BBC believes that halving the student capacity of the vehicles will return to parents as an additional fee, and no parent will want to bear that financial burden during 15 days of training:

“The school where we operate the service business has approximately 300 service vehicles under normal conditions. The capacity of these services varies between 22 and 29, that is, they all have a capacity of more than 20. Therefore, no service company can comply with the student seating system in a vehicle as predicted by the government. “

“Because this means that at our school, not 300, but 600 vehicles need to work, and this increases the cost of service companies. This means that parents pay additional payments in terms of service fees, that no parent wants to pay for services. additional for 3 weeks. “

Eğitim Bir Sen: schools should open in September

If schools open on June 1, there will be 15 school days for students, but teachers will have to go to school until the end of June with the seminar period.

40 years old and approximately 70 percent of teachers in Turkey is reminiscent of minors in need, they think the teacher can be seen as an advantage in terms of population outbreaks of being young.

However, you still argue that MONE should consider the question ‘Is it worth 15 days’? “When the school opens, teachers will first measure what level students stay in and how far subjects can be pursued in distance education. So for a time these students will meet and adapt. So the question of whether worth or not gaining importance for 15 days. “

Latif Selvi, secretary general of Eğitim Bir Sen, says he is in favor of opening schools in September for a similar reason.

“When education starts again, there is a process of adaptation first, which takes a week and ten days. With the opening of schools in September, rapid compensation and adaptation training can take place and the new program can be start without interruption right away. So there is no loss of our students. ” “

What measures do students return to schools in other countries?

With the onset of loosening of coronavirus measures in some countries in Asia and Europe, students began to return to schools.

Only high school students will return to school on May 6 in Wuhan, China, where the epidemic originated.

In some provinces least affected by the epidemic, schools were opened earlier in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai earlier this week (April 27), only for upper-secondary and senior students preparing for the exam.

The Chinese Ministry of Education announced that student fever was measured at school entrances and that students without a “green” code, meaning there is no risk in the mobile phone application, which shows the risk to carry coronaviruses, they would not be admitted to school. Also, schools in some areas are disinfected every night.

In China, some schools have implemented creative measures to help young students maintain physical distance.

https://twitter.com/sixthtone/status/1254413687902912520?s=20

Explaining that there are no new domestic cases on Wednesday for the first time on Wednesday, distance learning continues in South Korea and the final decision on when students will physically return to school has not yet been made.

Some schools will open in France from May 11. Firstly, nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools will open their doors to students. A maximum of 10 children can be in daycare together at the same time.

The Dutch government also decided to reopen primary care centers and institutions for children who need special education on May 11. Alternative education is planned in primary schools to comply with the rules of social distance. Half of the classes will be in the morning and the other half at the beginning of the class.

Teachers who have a retirement focus and who have chronic illnesses like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease will not start their duty if they want to. High schools in the Netherlands will not open before June.

In Belgium, primary and secondary schools will gradually open from May 18. The number of students in classes will be limited to a maximum of 10. Students over 12 years old must wear a mask.

In the United Kingdom, which is the third country with the highest loss of life in the world, the date of return to schools has not yet been determined.