“We will return to a careful and safe presence that we will intensify according to the epidemiological indicators of each of the jurisdictions,” he said in dialogue with Page 12 the Minister of Education, Nicolás Trotta, after a meeting he held this Monday with Unesco and Unicef authorities. The holder of the portfolio is visiting different provinces of the country and, in line with the statements of President Alberto Fernández in which he assured that classes will begin in March, detailed that “there is consensus that each of the measures that are carried out they must imply the prioritization of the presence “. The minister confirmed that the vaccination of teachers will begin in February, but that “it is not an indispensable condition.”
According to Trotta, the return to the classrooms that are being planned by the Government “will be with the current protocols that contemplate minimum social distancing measures: use of mouth covers, disinfection measures and some staggering.” “The pandemic has not ended, but throughout 2020 we have learned to live safely with the virus and that is part of what we want to reflect in this early stage of the 2021 school year,” he said.
Trotta assured that UNICEF and UNESCO “follow the strategy that the Argentine government is proposing with each of the jurisdictions”, and that, in the meeting they held this Monday at the Sarmiento Palace, they jointly planned “a development strategy for the return to the careful presence “. He also explained that they talked about the possibility of achieving an articulation for “the construction of the necessary consensus with all the actors of the educational system and of our society, to be able to jointly evaluate the experience of what the different moments of 2020 have been and 2021, the face-to-face schemes that were carried out in our country and also in other countries around the world “. “We evaluate the situation of different countries in Latin America, apart from the fact that it is difficult to generate a linear comparison scheme between the experiences of each of those countries,” he added.
Luisa Brumana, president of Unicef Argentina, pointed out in dialogue with this newspaper that during the meeting “we expressed the commitment of Unicef and UNESCO to accompany Argentina in trying to return to the presence as a rule in 2021. Obviously, in the context of a pandemic in that we find, with all the necessary measures “. “We are also committed to sharing with the Ministry and with the entire educational community the latest evidence that is being generated worldwide and, in particular, in the Latin American region. We will also support the generation of a consensus between the different sectors to guarantee a return to the presence of safe way “, indicated.
Along these lines, the head of Unicef Argentina announced that, together with Unesco members from other countries, they are planning, as agreed in the meeting with Minister Trotta, a meeting between the holders of the educational portfolios of several countries of the region “to share more and better the experience of each one of them around school attendance”.
In the framework of criticism from the teachers’ unions that, among other issues, ensure that many of the institutions are not prepared for a safe return, Trotta stressed that “throughout 2020 each jurisdiction carried out different infrastructure works and the State Nacional has transferred 2.3 billion pesos for small school spare parts and for the acquisition of cleaning and disinfection supplies. ” However, he admitted that “all this must be strengthened and it is a non-delegable responsibility of each State to guarantee minimum conditions so that there can be a safe presence in the classroom.” “In schools that do not meet the basic conditions, of course it will be necessary to carry out the necessary modifications to comply with the guidelines.”
The Confederation of Education Workers (Ctera) issued a statement in which it stressed that the return of face-to-face classes must be agreed with the teachers in the meetings of the national parity, to be held in February. Along these lines, Trotta indicated that “our position is clear, but of course in the joint framework we are going to discuss all the aspects that are necessary with the unions. We believe that we have to navigate the challenge of prioritizing careful presence in the schools and, all the governors with whom we have already spoken have expressed their support in that regard. “
During the last weeks Trotta toured the six provinces of the NOA, this Monday he was in San Juan where he participated together with the governor, Sergio Uñac, in the inauguration of renovation works of the Initial Level School No. 35, and until Wednesday he will visit the three provinces of which. In addition, he announced that before February 10 he will visit the 24 educational jurisdictions.
Teacher vaccination
“The vaccination process will begin in February. This is a decision that our government adopted in November to prioritize the presence of the 2021 school year,” Trotta said. Then, he specified that “teachers are within the five priority groups for vaccination and within the framework of the Federal Council, this Friday we will meet and we intend to establish an order to prioritize teachers who need it most.”
The head of the educational portfolio also clarified that “we always said that both vaccination and the improvement of epidemiological indicators are two variables that should allow us to intensify presence, but it must also be said that the vaccine is not an indispensable condition.” Brumana, in this sense, pointed out that for Unicef ”the vaccination of teachers is very important, but not a fundamental condition.” “We believe that we do not have to wait, that we have to work on security measures in each school and with that advance depending on the epidemiological contexts.” Regarding the possible inoculation of the students, Trotta specified that for now “the boys are not a priority to vaccinate.”
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