The Regional Federation of Parent Associations of the Algarve (FRAPAL) contests the guidelines, sent to schools this Tuesday, May 5, by the Ministry of Education, regarding the return of classes in person to the 11th and 12th grade exam subjects. Instead, "distance learning should continue".
FRAPAL is one of the signatory entities of a position of the National Independent Confederation of Parents and Guardians (CNIPE) which was made public today, 6th of May.
In statements to the Sul Informação, Nuno Sousa, president of FRAPAL, expressed concern about the return to school, scheduled for the next 18th. «Continuing distance learning was, for us, the best decision to be taken», he said.
For this responsible, there are "given guidelines that will be difficult to comply with, such as the issue of social distancing and spacing within the classroom".
The return of classroom classes for 11th and 12th grade students, for exam subjects, was based on better preparation of students for these tests, an argument that does not meet the acceptance of CNIPE and FRAPAL.
“This return will allegedly be so that students have contact with their teachers before the exams. However, a different dynamic is expected from the one that students have been used to for many years, which does not contribute to the expected objective», disputes the National Independent Confederation of Parents and Guardians.
CNIPE goes further and says that students will be a kind of “target group of study in a semi-controlled environment to test collective immunity. This cannot be allowed, as our children and students are not guinea pigs», he accuses.
According to the Ministry's guidelines, known yesterday, classes must have “one student per secretary”, favoring “the use of large and airy rooms”.
Classes should also be concentrated, "whenever possible, during the morning or afternoon", defining the functioning of teaching activities from 10:00 am to 17:00 pm and "creating time shifts between classes, avoiding, as much as possible, the concentration of students pupils, teachers and non-teaching staff on school grounds'.
The use of a mask will be mandatory, hands must be disinfected or washed frequently and circuits and procedures must be defined within the school, which promote physical distance between students, on the way from the entrance of the school to the classroom, in the access to the cafeteria, entrances to pavilions and bathrooms.
The use of the cafeterias itself will have operating rules, such as lunch periods between classes, whenever possible, hand washing/disinfection before and after the consumption of any meal and preparation of the tray and delivery, to each student, by an employee, at the entrance to the cafeteria line.
As Armed Forces have been to schools in the Algarve to promote awareness and training actions for employees on the disinfection of spaces, but, despite this, the CNIPE raises doubts about the effectiveness of the measure - "according to known reports, the conditions for disinfestation and sanitation of schools are not yet met", he considers , in a statement.
Nuno Sousa, from FRAPAL, adds another point to the list of disputes. This official considers "ambiguous" the decision of the Ministry to allow "justified absences" to students who do not attend classes in person, at the option of guardians.
“Whoever does not attend classes, the school is not obliged to provide a remote service, which worries us”, he considers.
The fact that it is recommended that students remain in the classroom, even during breaks, is also frowned upon, as students will be “closed for a long time, which seems serious to us”.
For the time being, FRAPAL is still not thinking about more drastic measures, but Nuno Sousa assumed that "the possibility of asking parents "not to allow students to return to school is being considered.
"It is something that we will take into account if there are no changes on the part of the Ministry," he concluded.
To know all the guidelines of the Ministry of Education, click here
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