Filipce: Online teaching is recommended and parents have the right to choose

During a joint press conference held today by the Minister of Health, Venko Filipche, and the Minister of Education, Arber Ademi, information was shared on the COVID-19 situation in the country and worldwide, as well as plans for the start of the school year.

“The situation is stable at the moment, but we are still preparing for the autumn, when, like many other countries, we expect the situation to be complicated because this is the season for respiratory diseases,” said Minister Philippe.

Regarding school teaching, although the ultimate goal is of course to get children back to school, and we and the world are facing the coronavirus, children certainly need to go to school. But we need to be maximally aware and careful to reduce the risk of virus transmission and ensure that the educational process is safe for the health of children, teachers and families of children who go to school, said Philippache.

“The educational process is indisputably important, but we cannot ignore the health aspect and the possibility of the virus spreading in schools. We have said many times that everything can be compensated except health,” stressed the Minister of Health.

“Taking this into account and the experience of some other countries, the recommendation of the Infectious Diseases Committee is that schools start teaching online, with two exceptions: one is for children from first to third grade and taking into account the fact that the lowest incidence is among young children and that the disease is completely mild, or that they are practically asymptomatic carriers. However, at the request of their parents, children from first to third grade will be able to follow teaching completely online. After consultation, we decided to allow parents to choose, given that some families have parents with chronic diseases who are at higher risk and the children are left at home by older family members such as grandparents who may also have chronic diseases”, explains Filipche.

The second exception is schools or regions with smaller class sizes or schools with smaller class sizes, which, depending on the epidemiological situation, may organize teaching in person with permission.

The press conference is in progress.