Two positive cases in the classroom? Then inform your colleagues, because there is a good chance that the third case will report soon and that you will not be able to fully meet your work obligations.
The first week after the Christmas holidays did the school go well?, but now in the second week the infections are shooting up again. That also means: many children who have to stay at home. Isn’t that possible? One parent after another is complaining on social media about the current measures.
Working existence impossible
“The quarantine regulations make it de facto impossible for families with small children to lead a normal working life,” Yoeri Albrecht, director of the De Balie debate center in Amsterdam, complains on Twitter.
Others wonder whether it would not be better to adapt the quarantine policy to the new omikron variant, which is more contagious but also less pathogenic. “Please change that policy very quickly from home classes after three infections,” wrote another:
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The BOOR foundation provides public primary and secondary education in 75 schools in Rotterdam. Spokesperson Dorieke Hammink sees ‘a big increase’ in corona cases in schools. “You can just see with that omikron variant how quickly it increases. You can count your fingers on it that it will cause a breakdown.”
Rules too strict?
The quarantine rules have been relaxed since this weekend, boosted teachers do not have to go home if there is an infection in the classroom. This does not apply to students. They have to go home after three infections. And that happens more and more.
It is difficult to say whether rules are too strict or not, the spokesman said. It’s a dilemma. “You want to offer continuity, but also that people can do their work safely. It can also differ per school. At one school you may have a team with many older teachers or teachers with a vulnerable health, while in another team this hardly matters. .”
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Chairman of the board Harrie van de Ven of Optimus, the largest school umbrella organization in the Northeast Brabant region with 41 primary schools, says that 5 of the 130 classes were sent home this week. Last week only one class was sent home.
‘Relaxing measure’
At the moment it can still be done, says Van de Ven. Especially compared to before the Christmas holidays. But he ‘thinks it is quite a bit’ that 20 or more students are the victims of three infections. He fears that many more classes will be sent home in the near future.
The education director also says: “If safety and health are not really a danger, then it makes sense to relax the measure of three students.”
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The chairman of the General Association for School Leaders also calls for an extension of the quarantine rule. “Provided it is safe,” said a spokesperson.
Press care
But will that relaxation also come? For the time being, we have to make do with the words of corona minister Ernst Kuipers in the last press conference: “If, in essence, from tomorrow the pressure on healthcare will steadily increase and then accelerate, then that is an important factor to take with you,” said Kuipers. . “If it actually remains relatively low, yes, then we have more room, regardless of infection numbers and failures due to quarantine, et cetera, to do something more.”
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