The Community of Madrid has asked the Ministry of Health to make the educational activities of phase 1 of the de-escalation more flexible to allow the return of the students of 2nd Bachillerato from next Monday. The Government allows the reopening of centers from phase two, but this Monday not even all the regions that already have the possibility have done so. The communities have met with the opposition of the teachers, who consider that the centers are not prepared and the doubts of the families. Thus, in Galicia, only the students of 2nd Baccalaureate and Vocational Training have returned and voluntarily. In the Basque Country, barely 20% of the institutes have returned to function and the other nine regions whose entire territory is in phase two have preferred to wait.
However, Madrid asks to do so without reaching phase two for the 2nd Bachillerato course (the students who then have to prepare for the university entrance exam), to a degree that would be “voluntary” for the students. “The exams of Secondary Education in the Community of Madrid will begin on June 10, so there would be no educational benefit to start the face-to-face classes of 2nd Bachillerato on June 8”, the Ministry indicates in a note.
Thus, in the event that the Ministry of Health did not grant the request, the end-of-stage courses, such as the 2nd year of Bachillerato, would not return to face-to-face classes. “Regardless of the decision made by the Ministry of Health, the centers will organize the exams for 2nd Baccalaureate alternating face-to-face exams with an alternative for those students who want to do them online and avoid traveling to the centers,” sources from the Ministry of Education. EVAU exams will be held in the region from 6 to 8 July, in person at universities.
The Minister of Education and Youth of the regional government, Enrique Ossorio, held a meeting on Tuesday with the main representatives of the Madrid educational community. The regional government has defended the proposal because “in this way, with the established health security measures, these students could review the course before the ordinary final exams.” The Ministry considers that “it is a measure that is highly demanded by families and that it seeks to minimize the pedagogical impact that the cancellation of classroom classes may have caused by the Covid-19”.
In the case of Special Education and Early Childhood Education, between 3 and 6 years old, the regional government has reported that “the return to face-to-face classes this school year is ruled out.” For its part, in the First Stage of Early Childhood Education, that is, between 0 and 3 years of age, the regional government proposes “a possible return when the region passes to phase 3”, a “feasible” circumstance taking into account that during the month of July Early childhood education schools are also open and operating.
In addition, the Community claims that this “flexibility” can also be applied so that, always voluntarily, students from different courses in which the Ministry of Education and Youth has detected a special difficulty in distance studies, may either return to classrooms, either for lack of technological means or for having special learning needs, although they did not offer more details. It would be necessary for this, adds the note, to develop tutorials and classes in small groups, by appointment of the students or their families.
“The Community of Madrid wants students from Madrid who face the entrance exam to the University to do so in the best conditions and with the best training, and that those other students who have had difficulty following classes at a distance have the reinforcement necessary to be on equal terms with their peers, “said the counselor.
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