Will schools open on September 15?

Baku/02.09.21/Turan: It is the beginning of September, but it  has not yet been determined in what form training in secondary and higher educational institutions will be in Azerbaijan. Since March 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, classes have been transferred to distance learning. Then a hybrid form began to be used - both on-line and face-to-face training.

Against the background of an average daily increase of about 4 thousand cases of coronavirus infection, the question arises whether to return to the traditional form of education from September 15?

The Ministry of Education has not yet come to any conclusion on this issue. “There are rules for the quarantine regime and decisions will be made by the relevant structures. If we want to see education consistent, then the most tested method is vaccination of teachers and parents,” the ministry said.

The head of the parliamentary committee on labor and social policy, Musa Guliyev, however, taking into account the current epidemiological situation, opposes the resumption of training in the traditional form.

He noted that everything depends on the decisions of the Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers.

“However, in Azerbaijan, the accelerated spread of the delta strain continues and infections have reached a peak. This strain is spreading more among children. At the same time, children in Azerbaijan are not vaccinated,” Guliyev said.

In his opinion, in educational institutions it is difficult to maintain social distance, mask regime.

“Taking this into account, I believe that it is better to give preference to online classes until January,” Guliyev said.

Education expert Kamran Asadov drew attention to the fact that according to the February decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the previous academic year was completed in a traditional manner.

“This decision is valid until October 1. That is, on September 15, classes should begin in a traditional form, but on a hybrid basis, that is, a combination of full-time and online training,” Asadov said.

He noted a sharp increase in the number of diseases, and the delta strain also infects children.

“But there are also realities. WHO and UNİCEF called on Azerbaijan and some Asian countries to start education, since two problems have not been resolved in these countries.

One of them is the availability of the population to the online form of education.

In the WHO and UNİSEF ratings, access to the Internet and its speed in Azerbaijan are indicated at a low level.

They believe that Azerbaijan cannot organize online education,” Asadov said. At the same time, he pointed to the high level of vaccination in Azerbaijan. “6 million doses of vaccines have already been introduced and these figures make it possible to organize education in a traditional form,” the expert said.

In his opinion, secondary schools and universities should be open. He noted that even with closed schools, the daily increase reaches 4 thousand cases.

“How is it that people do not get infected in large shopping centers, cafes, transport, and in schools and universities, where disinfection works are regularly carried out, the threat of infection will be greater?

This is the wrong approach. We have about 80 percent of teachers vaccinated,” the expert noted. —21C06-