Yesterday's decision of the Council of Ministers, without any prior consultation and information, which essentially provides for the abolition of the obligation of self-limitation of students / three, who are close contacts of confirmed cases of Covid-19, we believe that it is not only unfeasible to implement, but mainly dangerous for the health of students and teachers, says OELMEK in a statement.
"Impracticable because it is practically impossible to carry out tests by mobile units visiting schools" on pupils who are in close contact for 5 consecutive days, according to the Cabinet decision. "Dangerous, because in the midst of the largest outbreak of cases since the beginning of the pandemic, the obligation of self-limitation of close contacts is lifted for students only and only for school premises and time," it adds.
On the contrary, the OELMEK continues, yesterday's decision of the Council of Ministers provides for the daily presence of close contacts in schools, "which we believe increases the possibility of covid-19 spreading, as well as the risk of spreading it to students and teachers."
In addition, it states that several questions arise from yesterday's decision.
"Is the current pandemic outbreak phase the right time to relax the measures and protocol applied in schools, as decided yesterday? Why is the obligation of self-limitation lifted only for students/threesomes who are close contacts and that too only for school premises and time? Do close contacts of all other social and workplaces still pose a risk of Covid-19 transmission, while pupils/threesomes in schools do not? What do the experts on the Scientific Advisory Committee have to say about the above? Does the measure announced yesterday for schools have their approval? Is it their recommendation and does it contribute to preventing the spread of Covid-19?"
It also states that, as OELMEK, they have pointed out the problems that have arisen with the reopening of schools and the replacement of teachers, "while at the same time we have warned of the problems that will arise with the conduct of the quarterly examinations due to the pandemic."
"Despite the problems, we have been patient considering the critical situation and the objective difficulties that exist. But we clearly stated that our priority is the safety and health of thousands of students, teachers and other school staff. On this issue, we state once again that we will not make any discounts. We therefore call for the non-implementation of yesterday's decision from next Monday, as well as the immediate setting of a meeting with the Minister of Health and the Scientific Advisory Committee to discuss the protocols being implemented in schools and yesterday's decision," he added.
Finally, OELMEK states that "in case our demands above are not heeded, then our organisation will take the corresponding decisions, in consultation with the other educational organisations".
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
