Plaga: Closing schools is nonsense, children will only keep the economy off at home

---

School closures as a measure against the spread of covid-19, according to Education Minister Robert Plaga, do not make sense unless accompanied by other restrictions that prevent children from gathering outside school buildings. According to him, all European countries are trying to set rules for maintaining the full-time form of teaching for as long as possible.

Plaga will discuss this this week with the Minister of Health Roman Prymula, said the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Education Aneta Lednová.

Prymula said, we are considering closing the 2nd grade of schools, the number of infected pupils is increasing

Last week, Prymula agreed with Plaga to close secondary schools in regions worse affected by coronavirus infection. On Sunday, the Minister of Health said that he was preparing about sixty measures for individual scenarios of infection development.

Among the measures considered is the closure of the second stage of primary schools. The Governor of Vysočina, in charge of the leadership of the Association of Regions, Jiří Běhounek said after yesterday's meeting of the Government Council for Health Risks that Prymula still wants to discuss possible measures with the ministers of culture, education, interior and other ministries.

Lednová said on Tuesday, according to Minister Plaga, it is important to realize that all European countries are trying to protect full-time education as much as possible and to set such rules so that full-time education can continue

Comprehensive measures

According to her, Plaga believes that the extreme solution of closing any school levels must be preceded by comprehensive measures in the whole economy. According to him, this is the only way to have a positive effect on the entire system.

She said, the mere closure of schools will not prevent the association of children and young people, for example in shopping malls, restaurants or cinemas, the spokeswoman explained. According to the minister, closing schools alone does not make sense. This week, the Minister of Education will discuss this issue with the Ministry of Health, and, as at the (Ministry of Health), we are based on foreign studies. The Minister (Plaga) therefore wants to have a debate on hard data and with reasonable arguments on which measures will work best in practice. The conclusions of all measures will be presented on Friday.

The regulations of hygienists on the closure of secondary schools in the regions marked on the risk map of the disease in red or orange are valid for two weeks from this Monday. Schools thus switched to distance learning. This applies to most of the Czech Republic.

Along with secondary schools, higher vocational, basic artistic and language schools with the right to a state language examination were also closed. In the past, universities have also had to switch to online teaching in some regions.

In primary schools, the obligation to wear veils, a ban on singing and, in the second stage, restrictions on physical education apply. Instead, children can go for walks outside.