Back to School 2022: Rosendo Serna plans to remove health restrictions in schools

The Minister of Education (Minedu), Rosendo Serna, is considering allowing 100% capacity in the country's public educational institutions, and eliminate social distancing of one meter in classrooms. This was noted in view of the fact that epidemiological figures have fallen considerably in recent months.

Serna said the elimination of biosafety protocols and health restrictions in schools is recommended by authorities at the Ministry of Health ( Mines). Only approval would be missing regarding the one-meter distance between schoolchildren, which in practice is not complied with, he said.

“Most Latin American countries have returned to the classroom without any restrictions, as is the case in Colombia; eliminating protocols is one of the approaches before the Council of Ministers, but if any kind of regrowth were detected we would have to act quickly; enabling of cafes and kiosks would be the next step,” he said.

The minister also said that at the current juncture, vaccination has been important because it allowed to reduce coronavirus infections, according to Minsa reports. In addition, it has been possible to reduce the high rates of deaths nationwide, and people who were infected reported only mild cases that did not go into a major emergency.

RETURN TO CLASSROOM FIGURES

On the return to the classroom, the minedu head reported that so far an average of 85 per cent of public educational institutions in 22 regions, school classes have already started. In addition, he said that next Monday, March 28, 100% of schools will be open to offer the educational service in a face-to-face or blended way in the context of the health emergency.

Serna stressed that the autonomy of educational institutions made it possible to determine the start of the school year according to the internal decisions promoted by each principal. In addition, he noted that a large percentage of schools advanced the start of classes from March 14 and 21, complying with all biosafety protocols.

“Thanks to the National Educational Infrastructure Program, a large percentage of educational institutions that had infrastructure problems were served with prefabricated classrooms, now most schools and colleges are adequately equipped because they managed to overcome the problems they had”, manifested.

Serna also reiterated that Minedu is preparing a new standard to allow 100% of vacant places in the sector to be allocated to develop the process of teacher reassignment for personal interest and family unit, which will be carried out prior to the teacher appointment competition.

VACCINATION IS NOT COMPULSORY TO ATTEND SCHOOL

The Ministry of Health (Minsa) confirmed that children who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 can attend face-to-face classes normally, according to the director of Immunizations from Minsa, Maria Elena Martinez.

However, Igual recommended that parents immunize their children against the new coronavirus, since vaccines have been proven to be safe and effective in preventing the disease from attacking the body with force, or being fatal.

“The pandemic has been a serious blow to the Peruvian education system due to the closure of schools decreed to contain their progress, so a safe return to face-to-face classes is essential,” Martínez said.

“We call on parents to allow their children to go to vaccination centers and to trust their safety and effectiveness,” he continued.

For his part, the head of Minedu, Rosendo Serna, announced that the return to the classroom of children and adolescents will not be conditioned by anything.