Although experts and some regions ask for at least two weeks of distance classes, the Government guarantees the return to the classrooms this Monday
Two days after the ‘back to school’ after the Christmas break, Italian students and their families are not clear if the return to classes will be done in person or once again resorting to distance learning. The worsening of the pandemic, with an increase of 153% in new cases in one week and a worrying increase in hospitalizations of covid patients, among whom more than 70% are not vaccinated, has caused more and more sectors that ask the Government to delay at least two weeks the return to the classroom.
After the association of directors of educational centers, medical colleges and various local administrations spoke in this regard, the regional president of Campania, Vincenzo De Luca, has gone a step further by threatening to ignore the Government and impose even At the end of the month, distance learning for students up to 14 years of age in this southern region of the country. “In this situation, I believe that it is irresponsible to open schools on January 10,” said De Luca, who although he is a member of the Democratic Party, one of the political forces that is part of the coalition that supports Mario Draghi’s Executive, usually to act with total independence. Also the regional president of Veneto, Luca Zaia, warned that the ‘back to school’ can become “an ordeal” due to contagions between teachers and students, quarantines and lessons through the Internet.
“Our intention is to proceed with the planned schedule,” the Minister of Education, Patrizio Bianchi, replied to De Luca, also reminding him that he does not have the powers to keep schools closed on his own. In an interview published this Sunday in the newspaper ‘Corriere della Sera’, Bianchi insisted that educational centers “must be the last to close” and that it would be “a mistake” to resort to distance learning on a massive scale as at the beginning of the pandemic. This tool should be left only for “exceptional cases”.
The exception, however, could soon become the usual situation for many students due to the rapid increase in infections. With the new decree approved by the Government last Wednesday, classes with three or more positives will move to distance learning. According to some projections, there could be about 200,000 classes that are in this situation ten days after the restart of the school year. Nino Cartabellotta, president of the Gimbe Foundation, which studies the march of the pandemic in Italy, acknowledged that with the current circulation of the virus “it will be very difficult to keep students in classes.” To achieve this objective, it would be necessary to accelerate the vaccination campaign for children between 5 and 12 years old, since there are more than 3 million children in that age group who have not yet received a single injection.
Mandatory vaccination
The controversy over the ‘back to school’ is not the only controversy that shakes the Government. The mandatory vaccination for those over 50, which came into force this Saturday, has been clouded by criticism from those who consider it ridiculous that those who do not comply with this measure are fined only 100 euros. The Executive was forced to explain that to this sanction will be added the suspension of employment and salary of workers over 50 who do not want to be vaccinated. In addition, if they show up at their jobs they will be fined between 600 and 1,500 euros, a figure that can reach 3,000 in case they are repeat offenders.
.
#Chaos #school #Italy #due #explosion #infections