Initially scheduled for September 28, the return to classes at the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo (IPVC) was postponed to October 6, that higher education institution announced today.
A postponement, explains Carlos Rodrigues, president of IPVC, justified with the guarantee that all measures adopted by the institution are in force and in full operation.
“This decision, which implied the change to the School Calendar, was made justified by the need to ensure the institution’s safest response to the evolution of the pandemic covid-19, in the exceptional and contingency situation we are experiencing,” he said.
Carlos Rodrigues also leaves the appeal, at the beginning of the school year, to the entire IPVC community to be strict in compliance with the rules and guidelines already defined.
“As we all know, mitigating the evolution of the pandemic involves a lot of our behavior. I urge, and I ask, all members of our academy to be strict in complying with the rules and guidelines issued by the authorities, the presidency and the school boards. The success and safety of each one of us is also the success and safety of everyone ”.
The Dispatch IPVC-P-57/2020 and the update of the Contingency Plan of the IPVC for infection by SARS-CoV-2 determine the prevention and control measures for the transmission of COVID-19 for the academic year 2020/2021.
Functioning of teaching activities
Some of the measures implemented by the IPVC in view of the second wave of covid-19:
Face-to-face classes, extended hours with classes including Saturdays, setting classes per room, use of spaces, which until then were not used for classes, namely auditoriums, which were used for other technical-scientific activities, but which will allow for an increase in number of teaching spaces and a better distribution of teaching activities, mandatory use of a mask, hand and space hygiene, adequate signage and the necessary barriers, in all schools, to facilitate community movement, safeguarding social distance and avoiding crossing between people when accessing school spaces.
Accommodation, canteens and bars
In terms of accommodation, the IPVC is according to the latest report of the National Plan for Housing in Higher Education (PNAES), the second polytechnic in the country with the largest number of own beds available for student accommodation.
“This indicator shows the concern that the Institution has always attributed to the reception of displaced students”, underlines the president. With the restrictions raised by covid-19, the IPVC intends to maintain the same offer, having established protocols with MOVIJOVEM, managing entity of the Youth Hostels, for the possibility of IPVC students, in special conditions, to be able to use the hostels of Viana do Castelo, Cerveira, Melgaço and Ponte de Lima.
In canteens and bars, IPVC will provide the service of take-away in addition to redefining lunch times, through the implementation of shifts conciliated with the opening hours of classes.
Main guidance points for the functioning of the new school year
Teaching and face-to-face assessment will be the rule of thumb in the 2020-2021 school year;
The opening hours of teaching activities must be extended, starting earlier and / or ending later, and including Saturday in the school week;
The use of personal protective equipment is mandatory for all those involved in the training process and hand hygiene must be promoted before entering each room / amphitheater / laboratory and at the exit;
Disinfectants, including alcohol gel and wipes, are placed in classrooms to reinforce hygiene measures
In the laboratory activities, support technicians will have to clean the equipment at the end of each class and prepare it for the next class; in laboratories where individual gowns are used, it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure that he has the gown in the classroom and to ensure its safekeeping and hygiene;
Study visits must be absolutely exceptional;
Students who must undergo internships in health care facilities (clinical internships) and care for the elderly (gerontology) this year can do Covid19 testing at IPVC, which meets the conditions to ensure that testing;
Personal protective equipment (PPE), disinfectant materials and hygiene measures
The IPVC has thermometers available in each of its buildings to measure temperature;
Entry to the IPVC premises will only be permitted with the use of an individual mask. The cleaning of community masks will be carried out by users, following the manufacturer’s specifications;
The use of other PPE (for example, visor) may be indicated, depending on the activity performed and the risk of exposure;
Disinfectant materials are placed, namely alcohol gel and wipes, distributed in the various spaces of the institution, in places of service and common use, to reinforce hygiene measures;
The use of elevators is restricted to people with reduced mobility and cargo transportation;
The entry / exit of the buildings will be made exclusively at the doors identified for the purpose;
In the entrances of each building are placed rugs moistened with disinfectant, so that everyone who accesses the facilities proceeds to disinfect the soles of the shoes;
Ventilation of closed spaces is recommended;
When possible, the doors to the buildings should be open;
During the current academic year, the granting and rental of facilities used for the training process is suspended;
Traveling on duty should be restricted to absolutely necessary situations, favoring non-face-to-face meetings;
IPVC already has alternatives defined in the face of a possible worsening of the pandemic
This is the scenario set for the start of the academic year in 2020/21, however, warns the president of the IPVC, “if we are faced with a worsening of the pandemic situation, we have already thought of other solutions”.
Solutions that undergo the transformation of several rooms that are being equipped with sound and image capture systems that will allow classes to function in streaming.
It is also foreseen the division of classes, by much smaller groups. Teaching activities in synchronous and asynchronous systems, but above all the combination of the two systems is another measure considered.
Facing the most extreme scenario, that is, a new confinement, the IPVC is also prepared, since it has already implemented it in the second half of 2019/20.
The IPVC president says that “in these complex times, full of uncertainties, doubts and anxieties, the IPVC is preparing for the beginning of the 2020/2021 academic year, everything being done to comply with the instructions of the health authorities and the government to , thus, mitigating the risks of spreading the covid-19 pandemic and preventing contagions within our community ”, concluding with an appeal to the entire IPVC community:“ I conclude by sending my best wishes to all and each of you. a very successful year and reiterating my request for each of us to contribute, with his behavior, to this success that will also be the success of all ”.
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