A meeting was held today at the Ministry of Education to inform representatives of the educational organizations PDED, OELMEK and OLTEK and organized parents of primary and secondary education about the implementation of the test to stay in schools.
The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Education, Mr Prodromos Prodromou, and the Minister of Health, Mr Michalis Hadjipandela. The Head of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Constantinos Tsioutis and the Coordinator of the Population Control Programme of the Ministry of Health, Ms. Marios Stylianides, the Director of Secondary General Education Mr. Kyprianos Louis and the Director of Secondary Technical and Vocational Education and Training Mr. Elias Markatzis.
After the meeting, Mr. Prodromou in his statements to journalists said: "As announced, a wide-ranging meeting has just been held with the Minister of Health Mr. Michalis Hadjipandela, the head of the Scientific Advisory Group Mr. Konstantinos Tsioutis and representatives of educational organisations and organised parents.
The aim was for the Ministry of Health to inform us how this Decision will be implemented. I should stress that the rationale behind the Decision - following the recommendation of the experts and believing that we would have all the safeguards in place to maintain health security - was to give children, who would be identified as close contacts, the opportunity, after continuous diagnostic testing, to be able to attend school if they continue to have a negative reading. The details of course will be handled by the Ministry of Health, as this is a health issue.
From our side we have listened to the views, thoughts and reservations that educational organisations have. We underline that it is a measure that we will now take for a specific period of time. We will see how it works, and of course our sole aim is that a number of children - not a large number, but worthwhile - will not be denied attendance if they are shown to have a negative screening test. The rest will be clarified by the Ministry of Health, we as the Ministry of Education are always aligned with the Ministry of Health, but also with the recommendations of the expert advisors, on health safety issues and we have a common goal of keeping schools open but safe."
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