The Minister of Education, Science and Sports Algirdas Monkevičius suggests that students who are currently learning remotely should return to school for at least two weeks.
"At the moment, general education schools are working remotely, but we are considering the possibility of returning to schools for at least two weeks and working in the usual way," A. Monkevičius announced during a press conference on Friday.
"The possibility of returning to schools for primary classes from May 25, and for primary and general education students from June XNUMX," the minister announced.
The decision on the return of students to schools must be taken by the Government, this issue will be discussed next week.
"We need to wait for the Government's decision, taking into account the favorable epidemiological situation and easing the quarantine conditions. Next week, these decisions will be considered in the Government", said A. Monkevičius.
According to the minister, if the Government allows students to return to schools, the Government will recommend the schools to end the school year at the time they had planned, but for at least two weeks of live learning - not remotely.
"The decision on when to end the school year and start the summer vacation is made by the head of the educational institution, in coordination with the school council and the founder. Generally, the educational process lasts 175 days for primary school students, 185 days for primary and secondary students, and 163 days for high school graduates. This date, when the academic year will end, may be different in each school, but we would still suggest two weeks for schools to work live, if they had such opportunities", said the minister.
The head of the ministry also informed under what conditions kindergartens, which currently only accept children of parents who do not have the opportunity to work remotely, will open their doors fully from May 18.
Now 230 institutions accept children in the country, over 800 children attend kindergartens.
"From May 18, kindergartens will be able to provide a full educational service, and there will be more such children. But we have to prepare very carefully for the opening of kindergartens, we have provided very clear recommendations on how to inform families, make agreements with them, find out whether the child has chronic diseases, take care of employees who also belong to the risk group due to age or chronic diseases", he said A. Monkevičius.
According to the minister, kindergartens that have resumed work will have to ensure that employees work only in one group, that children attend the same group constantly, that different groups of children do not come into contact both indoors and outdoors. It will not be possible to organize joint activities for several groups.
The health status of all admitted children will also have to be assessed and those with a fever and signs of upper respiratory tract infections will not be admitted.
All education and training institutions were closed on March 16 due to the declaration of quarantine in the country. For two weeks, the children were on vacation at school, and later the educational process resumed remotely.
The author is Milena Andrukaitytė
