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Poland set to reopen schools as virus fears ease

13.08.2020 07:30
Poland will reopen most of its schools to students after the summer break ends next month, the country’s education minister has announced.
Audio
Polands Education Minister Dariusz Piontkowski briefs reporters at a news conference in Warsaw on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020.
Poland's Education Minister Dariusz Piontkowski briefs reporters at a news conference in Warsaw on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

Dariusz Piontkowski told reporters on Wednesday that, after a prolonged period of distance learning amid the coronavirus pandemic, traditional in-person classes would be reinstated in most schools nationwide from September 1.

He said that restrictions would only be possible in counties flagged as "red" and "yellow," meaning those with more infections than elsewhere.

There are 19 such counties at the moment, of the total number of 380 nationwide.

"The current epidemic situation, as evaluated by the Ministry of Health and the chief sanitary inspector, allows us to restore normal classes, based on direct interaction between the teacher and students, in the overwhelming majority of educational institutions--in most schools, kindergartens and nurseries," Piontkowski told a news conference in Warsaw.

Dos and don'ts for schools and students

His ministry has rolled out a set of special guidelines for schools to follow in the face of the pandemic. These include compulsory hand washing after entering the school premises and frequent airing of the classrooms.

Officials have also drawn up "10 rules of safe learning at school" for students.

Schools and preschools will be expected to minimize physical contact with visitors from the outside.

'Mixed system'

If there is a sharp increase in infections in a specific area, sanitary inspectors will be able to instruct the school to switch to remote education, Piontkowski told the news conference.

He also said that in some institutions a "mixed system" could be introduced if there is a coronavirus infection inside the school, if cases begin to spike in the area, or if students or employees are quarantined.

Principals would then be expected to reorganize the work of their schools to ensure that fewer students gather in them, including by telling some students to switch to distance learning on a rotational basis, Piontkowski added.

Education amid COVID-19

At the end of June, some 4.3 million students in thousands of schools across Poland started their summer vacations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Poland in March shut all schools, universities and nurseries as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Elementary schools reopened to young children at the end of May as the country lifted some COVID-19 safety measures.

But most Polish schools at all levels of education stayed shut until the end of the academic year on June 26, providing distance learning instead of in-person classes.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in late June that his government would aim to reinstate full-time on-site schooling after the summer break ends on September 1, and that it wanted students to return to universities on October 1 unless there are “very unexpected events."

A total of 53,676 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Poland since the start of the pandemic, and 1,830 have died from the COVID-19 respiratory disease so far, officials said on Wednesday.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, TVP Info

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