ZAGREB, August 28, 2020 – The Croatian Teachers’ Union on Friday sent an open letter to Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs with the ten most frequent questions about the new school year coming from teachers in the field, with possible suggestions to resolve those issues.
The unions is seeking additional employment of assistant-technical personnel, who were in short supply even before the outbreak of the pandemic, saying that more than 48% of cleaners cleaned a much larger area than prescribed before the pandemic and that now they will be required to work even more to ensure compliance with epidemiological measures.
The teachers said that the issue of high-risk employees has also not been resolved nor is it clear if pupils who become infected will be excused and whether they will be required to attend online classes. They also want to know who will organise these classes.
The union has received a lot of enquiries from worried parents and employees regarding transport and it notes that it makes no sense for pupils from different grades to ride on the same bus, only to be later strictly separated according to classes when they arrive in school.
Delay in employment of additional IT teachers
Noting that a decision on ICT lessons in schools enters into force in the 2020/2021 school-year, the union warned that additional IT staff still had not been hired.
There are also delays in organising after-school day care in schools and the status of teachers in these classes has still not been resolved, it said.
Every teacher should be ensured with free Internet access or compensation for the related costs incurred and they should be equipped with a laptop, camera and applications in order to organise remote teaching, the union warns.
The union further notes that instructions are not clear for special schools either.
Teachers are want to know if and how often testing for the coronavirus will be organised for school staff, if they will be supplied with protective equipment, how classes will be covered should a teacher be compelled to go into self-isolation and so on, the union says in its letter to Minister Fuchs.
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