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Mexico (AFP)
Just over 1.6 million Mexican students came to their schools on Monday in a gradual and voluntary return to face-to-face classes after almost 15 months of virtual learning due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Wearing a mask, Iris García, a third-grader, longed to meet her classmates at an elementary school in eastern Mexico City, where teachers were waiting for her, antibacterial gel and thermometer in hand.
“I am excited and a little nervous to see my colleagues again,” Iris, 9, told AFP, along with her grandfather, who previously delivered a medical certificate to rule out symptoms of respiratory disease in the girl.
Schoolchildren from 13 states, out of a total of 32, return to classrooms after turning their regions to green at the so-called epidemiological traffic light.
By authorizing the return of 25 million students from public and private schools, the government gave the power to volunteer.
At the end of this first day of classes, the federal Ministry of Education (SEP) reported in a statement that 1.6 million students from 24,406 basic to higher level schools “returned to face-to-face classes.”
Despite the fact that the country completes 21 weeks with the epidemic indicators down after the advance of vaccination, a strict sanitary protocol will be maintained in educational centers that provides for immediate closure as soon as a positive case is detected.
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Mexico, of 126 million inhabitants, accumulates almost 229,000 deaths from covid-19 – fourth in the world in absolute numbers – and its mortality rate per 100,000 inhabitants is the twenty-first.
– Gradual return –
According to a SEP model, minors will only be able to attend two days a week in four-hour days; two more days will be of online classes and on Fridays extra help will be given to students who require it.
Ivoon Ponciano, a sixth grade student, commented that he was experiencing a feeling of “weirdness” because initially only a few classmates will return.
“My mother thought the idea of going back (to school) was good. They were very difficult months, weird, all with face masks and empty streets,” said 12-year-old Ponciano.
Nancy Guillén, director of a primary school in the Iztacalco mayor’s office, pointed out that in principle they will receive 140 children, a third of the campus. “We are excited because this school is our home,” he said.
The teacher acknowledged, however, that there is uncertainty among some parents who fear contagion.
To date, 25% of the Mexican population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, including 2.5 million teachers who represent 88% of the educational staff.
“Our main challenge will in any case be to ensure that the little ones stay at least four hours with face masks,” said Guillén, 54 years old.
The mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, reported that 1,103 schools – 387 public and 716 private – opened this Monday in the capital, and it is estimated that 80,000 students and 10,000 teachers returned to schools.
© 2021 AFP
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