“The recovery went relatively well, certainly in a somewhat special atmosphere,” said Keystone-ATS Samuel Rohrbach, president of the Union of French-speaking teachers (SER). Despite an element of fear, pupils and teachers had “great pleasure in finding each other”.
The different rules to be observed, in particular the distance between children and adults, change the way of teaching. But, after a few days of adjustment, everything seems to be in place, he adds. The work in the half-class is positive, both for the health and educational aspects.
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The teachers seem reassured by this return, abounds Gregory Durand, president of the Vaud pedagogical society (SPV). The important thing was to be able to start again in a progressive and secure way, with half-classes to be able to welcome the children calmly and teach them the barrier gestures.
A certain routine has now taken hold: there is thus “a real ritual of hand washing” when the children arrive in class, he illustrates. It takes time, but it is also an opportunity to exchange and discuss various subjects with the students, which is also formative, adds Mr. Rohrbach.
In addition to learning barrier gestures, one of the objectives of this “back to school” was to “reconnect” with the students after eight weeks of absence and distance education, notes Gregory Durand. It’s about listening to them and seeing how they lived through this period. The “pure” teaching as before March 13 will resume later.
Question marks
A shared opinion, overseas, by Dagmar Rösler, president of the German teachers’ union LCH. In some schools, physical education can only be done in a limited way; others had to cut swimming lessons. “We had to give up a lot of things that make school lively, exciting and varied,” she says.
According to her, there remain a certain number of “question marks concerning the social distance”, in particular in the Germanic cantons which took again with whole classes.
The SPV will launch a survey of its members to take stock of this “start of the school year” and to “raise” the outstanding questions to the Department of Training, Youth and Culture.
Cleaning
But its president already points to two difficulties: respect for social distance and the question of disinfection of premises and equipment.
It is particularly complicated for the little ones (1-2 Harmos) who are used on the one hand to have fairly close contact with the teachers and on the other hand to touch objects. We must find a way that they play individually or, at least, that there is as little exchange of material as possible.
But the problem also arises in high school, an age when students regularly change classrooms. There is a lot of “mixing” when 40 to 60 students cross paths in narrow corridors. In addition, the classes must clean and disinfect their tables and chairs at each intercourse, which is very time-consuming, underlines Mr. Durand.
At the political level, we welcome “the very great commitment” of schools. “The teachers are doing everything to make it possible to return to a normal school life as possible”, rejoices the president of the Conference of directors of public education (CDIP), Silvia Steiner. “In this sense, the first step towards a new normal has been successful”.
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