Several municipalities have declared themselves unable to provide security for this Monday.
The start of the school year will take place on May 18.
The resumption of lessons will be gradual and will concern certain pupils in primary and secondary education, under strict organizational conditions. Kindergartens will remain closed until further notice.
“Higher education, for its part, has already organized its end of the academic year with the community authorities “, said Sophie Wilmès.
The resumption on May 18 concerns students in 6th grade and in the last year of high school, two days a week maximum per group of students. The classes will be reorganized and will only have ten students.
Everyone should have a personal space of 4 m² while the teacher will have double. The wearing of the mask will be compulsory for all students over 12 years old. There will be no hot meals served in the dining halls. The physical education class can be maintained, but must be adjusted to maintain physical distance, with greater distances if the effort results in stronger breathing.
Fifteen municipalities have already announced that classes will not resume on May 18 in their schools. Among which Schaerbeek, Meix-devant-Virton, Waremme, Braives, Morlanwelz, Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont, Boussu, Fleurus or Sivry-Rance.
The main reason cited was the difficulty in complying with security measures. “ Resuming lessons is essential for students, confined to their homes for more than two months, in particular for students in Secondary 6 and 7. But it can only be envisaged if the safety of children and that of school staff is guaranteed. Parents, teachers, school administrators and politicians agree on this point “, says Cécile Jodogne, mayor of Schaerbeek.
“ Lhe number of schools that refuse to open their doors on May 18 amounts to thirty out of 2,500 establishments “, relativizes the spokesperson for Caroline Désir, Minister of Education. “The administration contacts them in order to understand why they are not opening and to find solutions to help them. If it is because the security measures are not met, we can indeed postpone the start of the school year until But the objective is to stick to the decisions of the National Security Council. The circular allows postponing the start of the school year when it comes to security reasons. But if the establishments can do so, it should not be postponed. Back to School.”
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