From tomorrow, Monday, the sampling of the controls within the school units will take place, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth (YPPAN), Prodromos Prodromou, told KYPE, saying that he understands the pressure on the workshops on Saturdays and Sundays due to the large number of students who have to take a negative test on Monday to enter the classroom.
More than 130,000 students in public and private primary and secondary education, he noted, need to undergo a diagnostic test, which created queues and some inconvenience, but from tomorrow it ends. He noted that from now on in primary schools there will be a diagnostic test twice a week.
In his statements to KYPE, Mr. Prodromou said that he is unprecedented and the number of teachers who are either sick, or are contacts, or have to stay home with their minor children who are in self-limitation.
Last year, he continued, they had responded to record replacements, this year the data is more pressing. We have already responded to the first day of kindergartens, the day before yesterday, Friday, said the Minister of Education.
He added that the Education Service Committee makes the replacement process electronically based on the needs recorded by the Ministry of Education. The interest of those who are candidates for replacements is not at 100%, said Mr. Prodromou, “and this is understandable”.
The Minister reiterated that they have a plan B and a plan C for the replacements and their goal is for the children to go to schools tomorrow and do their homework, without a gap.
“We use teachers who are present in the schools from other services and I believe that we will meet the needs of Monday.” He added that there will be needs on Tuesday and Wednesday and they will do everything possible in good cooperation with the Committee for Education Service (EVS), with the aim of “children not going to schools and no teacher”.
Asked if there is a possibility of closing our school unit and under what conditions, Prodromos Prodromou referred to the special committee that exists at the Ministry of Education and studies all the data and the epidemiological picture in the schools. If there is a need for distance education, decisions will be made based on the data, he said. “So far we manage to operate the schools with a physical presence. The goal is to have open and safe schools. To reiterate our appreciation for the teachers and school principals who make superhuman efforts for this. “
The Ministry of the Interior noted that the real solution is to increase vaccinations, stating that thousands of children have already been vaccinated and primary education, while interest is increased. The Ministry of Health, he continued, organizes workshops with pediatricians who vaccinate and appealed to parents to overcome any doubts and concerns they have. “Vaccines are the medically appropriate way that science tells us to resist for as long as this pandemic lasts.”
The President of EVS, Panagiotis Antoniou stated to KYPE that they have proceeded to cover most of the more than 530 replacements that the Ministry of Agriculture has submitted for tomorrow, Monday.
More than 320 places are in primary education, kindergartens and special education, he said, of which 61 have not been filled in primary education and 16 in kindergarten teachers. However, he said, there are assurances from the Ministry of Education that there will be no gap in primary education and will be used by teachers from the DRASE program (School Integration Actions).
There are, he continued, about 90 vacancies in Secondary Education, but they do not create a real problem.
Mr. Antoniou noted that the replacements are made electronically only. He noted that there was a technical problem on Friday for half an hour but the application deadline was extended to 5 pm. In general, he said, there is a reduced interest in replacements.
He also stated that tomorrow, Monday, the replacement process will be repeated, depending on the needs that will be given to them by the Ministry of Education.
