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If the PDOED or the Ministry of Education and Science have data showing that the outbreaks in kindergarten teachers are caused by students, then they should make them public, says, in a statement, the Pancyprian Confederation of Federations of Associations of Parents and Guardians of Public and Community Kindergartens.
"It is our firm position that children should attend school with physical presence and not close a department when a positive case is detected. It must be understood that for the past two years the psychology of our children has been under tremendous pressure which has already created serious problems for several children but as we have pointed out after a thorough study which we have forwarded to the Secretariat of the PDPA, the problems will become much more pronounced in the future," he adds.
He further states that following the recommendation of the PDED to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs and the Minister of Health for compulsory Rapid Test for the compulsory Pre-Primary School students, the Pancyprian Confederation of Federations of Associations of Parents and Guardians of Public and Community Kindergartens expresses its dissatisfaction to the Secretariat of the PDPA for the fact that they submitted the above recommendation without prior consultation with organized parents.
"At the same time we would like to thank the Ministry of Education who has requested the PDOED that in order for this position of the PDOED to be discussed, the Organized Parents of the Pre-primary should be present. As we have mentioned in the meeting we had with the MoEPAN, our position as organized parents is that we should be given Self-Tests so that we can check our children at regular intervals," he said.
With this suggestion, says the Pancyprian Confederation of Federations of Associations of Parents and Guardians of Public and Community Kindergartens, there will be more security for students and staff of Kindergartens, since the test will be carried out before the arrival of the children at the Kindergarten and the parent will know whether his/her child is positive or negative. "We will achieve the minimum possible (under the circumstances) psychological pressure on our children since the test will be carried out by the child's family members and not by a third person", it adds.
Otherwise "parents will have to be present in the area where the test will be carried out together with their children which will create a delay and a concentration of a large number of people with the risk of spreading the virus".
"In case of a positive result in a class then contacts will be allowed to continue their attendance with physical presence provided that parents test daily at home (for a period of 7 days). Again it will be the responsibility of the parents to inform the School and the Department of Health in the event of a positive result. Children of all ages will be tested, not just the compulsory Pre-primary," he adds.
On the contrary, says the Pancyprian Confederation of Federations of Associations of Parents and Guardians of Public and Community Kindergartens, conducting a rapid test once a week as recommended by the PDPA Secretariat will not achieve its purpose since there will be no reliable detection of positive results, resulting in the virus spreading to the rest of the children in the class.
"Further, the PDPA's recommendation is limited to students of the compulsory pre-primary level which means students beyond the age of 5 years. It should be noted that several Kindergarten classes are attended, mixed, by children aged 4-7 years. The PDED's proposal does not cover the entire student population. It is certain that as parents we care more than anyone else about the health and safety of our children. Moreover, it is a given that we also care about the health of the Kindergarten teachers and the support staff working in our kindergartens," he adds.
The Pancyprian Confederation of Federations of Associations of Parents and Guardians of Public and Community Kindergartens states that it understands that the PDOED wants to protect its members, "which we respect but this can be achieved with the already existing guidelines, namely the use of the mask by teachers."
The Pancyprian Confederation of Federations of Associations of Parents and Guardians of Public and Community Kindergartens states that it understands that the PDOED wants to protect its members, "which we respect but this can be achieved with the already existing guidelines, namely the use of the mask by teachers.
"As we have explained to the members of the PDED Secretariat we have full confidence in the parents and have called on them if their position is that parents are unscrupulous and will not proceed with the Self-Test checks to state this publicly."
Source: CNA
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