They may not have met the first official curfew, but a little after midnight the message came from the Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA) that the schools had to switch to code orange by the autumn holidays at the latest.
Even though it was already clear before the meeting started that education was moving towards code orange. After the explosion in infection rates and strict federal government measures, the pressure on education had grown to act.
The main question was: can pupils from the second and third grade of secondary education also continue to go to school – as the minister and umbrella organizations hoped – or should they still have to follow lessons half the time from home – as the scripts prescribed?
The compromise is somewhere in between, although it is mainly Weyts who gets home. All students can continue to go to school in code orange. On the other hand, secondary schools will have the option of providing distance learning for the second and third degree. Although there are two major conditions attached to this: all students must be “effectively reached” and the “competent negotiating committee must agree”, the press release reads.
To make full-time education possible, a number of safety regulations are being tightened. The most striking is that from now on, students over 12 years of age will also have to wear a mouth mask on the playground, unless the distance rules are respected. Until now, this was only mandatory indoors.
In accordance with the rules in the sports sector, the physical education classes will only be able to take place indoors if a distance of 1.5 meters can be kept. Changing rooms may only be used if everyone is wearing a mouth mask and the room is cleaned afterwards.
In addition, there are a number of other aspects that are in line with what was previously written in scripts. “In primary education, for example, all extracurricular activities are suspended except for swimming lessons, children are given permanent places in the refectory and the presence of visitors and other outsiders at school is strictly limited. In secondary education, this includes alternating play times if possible, meals per class group and a maximum of fixed places in fixed classrooms for all pupils ”, says a press release.
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