Abraham Bote
11/07/2021 | Merida Yucatan
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Mothers, fathers and teachers still do not feel sure that the students will return in their entirety to the classrooms, teachers comment that the authorities do not provide the necessary supplies and that they have to buy what is necessary to prevent Covid-19 infections.
They also indicate that to feel more confident, children should also be vaccinated to return to school in a safer way, since many, especially the youngest, do not comply with sanitary measures such as correctly using the mask.
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They point out that there are still complications in caring for children with disabilities, and they have faced various obstacles to guaranteeing their right to education.
On September 6, the return to classrooms was carried out on a voluntary basis, as part of the Safe Return to Classes Process, which corresponds to the 2021-2022 school year, some students did return to classrooms, despite several They decided to continue the online modality due to the fear that their children would catch it; even though the teaching staff has already been emptied.
Groups such as Acción Docente Yucatán have documented several cases of infected teachers and at least four teachers have died from Covid-19, until October.
They also stated that schools do not have what is necessary to comply with sanitary measures, or to be able to provide online education, since many schools do not have internet.
Raquel Tun, mother of a minor who is in the second year of primary school, said that the classrooms did not undergo changes and the groups are still numerous. “There is no way they put 28 children with healthy distance in the same room,” he said.
Another situation, he considered, is that younger students are not going to use the mask in the way that an adult would. “That is not easy to control, the same with the use of gel … I think the important thing is to vaccinate them and thus be able to get out of this pandemic,” he stresses.
“Definitely I do not feel safe but the risk of contagion is something that is not in our hands to control,” he added.
Mariel Vera indicates that it is important to feed children well to help them develop a strong immune system that can resist this and other viruses; good nutrition is also important to combat this pandemic, he stressed.
His son, who is in sixth grade, returned to the classroom but in a hybrid way, one week in person and the other online, but in reality it is only to do homework, and he feels that the student learns what is necessary from us.
Cindy Santos Ramos, a teacher at two public high schools, pointed out that their school facilities do not have ideal settings, however they have effectively adapted the spaces to reduce infections.
“I cannot say that they are ideal conditions because we must consider that schools were never designed thinking that we would have to establish sanitary criteria such as healthy distance, ventilation or constant hand washing, but we have managed to establish internal protocols to reduce the most possible contagions ”, he pointed out.
In turn, the teacher commented that the number of students who returned in person in both schools did not exceed 40 percent per classroom; In both campuses, criteria were established so that 15 students per classroom are not exceeded, which allows them to have a healthy distance at all times and being high school students it is easier for them to follow the protocols such as using face masks correctly.
“In one of my schools, as there are very few face-to-face students, the whole classroom comes to classes from Monday to Friday every week, in the other we had to divide them into two groups that alternate every other week to ensure that they did not exceed 15 students per classroom ”, he said.
He also acknowledged that they do not receive material and supplies from both state and federal school authorities. “The schools are in charge of buying supplies such as gel, thermometers and all that. There was only one delivery at the beginning and that’s it ”, he stressed.
What have arrived are the brigades for cleaning and rehabilitation of the buildings that were abandoned for the year and a half that there were no face-to-face classes.
Effects on students with disabilities
Paula Lira Moguel, president of the State Association of Parents (AEPAF), revealed that violations of the rights of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) persist: Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Spectrum Disorder Autistic, “slow learning”, Asperger’s among other conditions.
In turn, he said that in some schools they ask parents that they cannot teach distance classes because the schools do not have internet and if they want to be in this mode they must pay for this service, in addition to asking for photocopies among other things.
The organization insisted that the government must provide everything and whatever they require for people who wish to follow classes online and take their children to classrooms, so that they can exercise the right to free, compulsory and inclusive public education.
According to the activist, the students with SEN since the virtual classes began, in March 2020 due to the health contingency due to the Covid-19 pandemic, monitors were taken away from them, others were not even assigned them, which are vital to be able to carry out their school activities, among other violations.
“Due to this situation that occurs in public schools in a general and repeated way, institutional and school violence, discrimination, exclusion have continued,” the activist stressed.
Edition: Laura Espejo
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