Does each municipality have its own epidemiologist? Such a question was raised by the suggestion of the Ministry of Education that the decision on when to stop studies, depending on the prevalence of Covid-19, will have to be made by each municipality.
It is currently planned that on the first of September studies in all educational institutions in Latvia will resume in person. Both schools and parents and the ministry responsible for education are preparing for such a scenario.
The Ministry of Education and Science is also preparing for “Plan B”. However, if Covid-19 prevalence deteriorates, training could be discontinued. In which cases this should be done, it is left to the municipalities to decide.
Several local authorities expressed concern about such a stimulus this week. Municipalities are concerned that they may make mistakes in their individual decisions. As a result, the victims would be students.
“On the one hand, the fact that, perhaps in an exaggerated attempt to avoid some kind of infection, we may be leaving without education whole schools that are uncompetitive as a result of such decisions. There is the fact that it is too late, and the other is quite the opposite – to enter the ditch in that we make all schools close again and study remotely, ”says Imants Vasmanis, the head of the Education Department of Jurmala City Council.
The draft of the Cabinet of Ministers, which is planned to be approved by the government on Tuesday, envisages that at the national level it is not really determined at which morbidity rate face-to-face studies should be discontinued, thus it may differ in each local government.
“There may be a situation that in one county additional morbidity has appeared, in another there is not. In one case, it is necessary to isolate some of the students, that is, so that something does not happen to the others. It is not in another school. And so in the initial stages this type of decision will be made by each [pašvaldība] separately, ”explains Māris Pūķis, Adviser to the Union of Local Governments of Latvia.
However, in such a case, different interpretations of the spread of the disease may cause problems, according to Inga Vanaga, the head of the Latvian Education Workers’ Trade Union.
“Someone, however, understands that the five patients are very many, some average, but very few. And this different understanding can contribute to the fact that with the same number of patients, for a certain number of inhabitants in the municipality, someone will implement the study process remotely, someone will implement the study process in person, ”says Vanaga.
Vanaga is involved in the development of this project and was among those who, for this reason, wanted to determine at the national level the morbidity rate at which training should be discontinued. “In our opinion, local governments and educational institutions should be given, yes, this freedom, trust and be empowered to develop these action plans on the ground, but at some level of Covid-19 prevalence, these decisions should still be given to professionals, experts,” says Vanaga.
There really will not be a single criterion, because it would be difficult to determine, emphasizes the Ministry of Health. It is reassuring that if someone falls ill in schools, epidemiologists will also be in a hurry to help. At the same time, however, it is acknowledged that in the end the final decision – in what format to continue studies – will have to be made by schools or municipalities.
The representative of the Ministry of Health Jana Feldmane points out: “The specialists of the center will go to school, are aware of the situation, what are the risks of spreading the infection, how many children have been in contact, then assess whether it is necessary to close the school or isolate one class. And then the school management will evaluate whether it provides distance learning for that one class. ”
Epidemiologist Yuri Perevoshchikov said this week that if a child is diagnosed with Covid-19, it is likely that at least the whole class will have to be quarantined. On the other hand, if the range of contacts is wider, then the need for quarantine, and hence distance learning, will affect even more people.
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