Ricardo Braginski
04/27/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 04/27/2021 10:02
Fireworks, media fights, statements that rise in tone and "little games" for the own gallery.
When they talk in the media about being
present in the classrooms
, the different spokespersons for Nation and City (or the toughest wings of the Front of All and Together for Change) usually appear as if they were two opposing, irreconcilable sides.
However, if one looks at the plans in which the educational portfolios of the Nation and City are advancing in the face of the next months of the pandemic - with high rates of infections ahead - it will be seen that
they do not differ much
.
The programs of each other would not be so far from a meeting point.
All this is given below, and almost in silence, while
waiting for the Court's ruling to come out
, which must define the constitutionality of Alberto Fernández's decree - 10 days ago - that closed the schools in the AMBA for two weeks.
No matter how it comes out, from the point of view of the reality of the schools, that ruling
will "be born old"
, almost on the verge of the DNU coming into force. It will serve, mainly, for lawyers, jurists and politicians to continue discussing the
autonomy of the City.
Now, from the point of view of school planning, both Nation and City have already
abandoned the position of black or white
, all face-to-face or all virtual.
From what
Clarín
learned
, the idea of these two ministries is to return to the
main lines
of what had been discussed in the scope of the Federal Council of Education before the
surprise
presidential decree of April 14
burst
.
Then they talked about different alternatives to face the presence in the middle of the pandemic.
The Buenos Aires minister Soledad Acuña during a meeting with Nicolás Trotta, during the first wave of Covid.
Photo: Archive
Thus, if this scheme is advanced, and if there is no political pressure outside the ministries of Education, the plans for the Nation and the City - for the AMBA -
tend to converge
. The Trotta Ministry would move from the current system of closed schools towards a
“managed presence”
. And that of Soledad Acuña from the current design of open schools towards the
“four scenarios”
of a limited presence.
The two schemes have the same objective: to try to
preserve as much as possible the presence
of students who, for various reasons, need it most and, at the same time, limit as much as possible the movement of students and parents who move with them.
All this with the doors of the schools "always open": teachers must attend to serve students who require it.
As will be seen below, the Nation and City plans
are almost the same
.
Managed presence
Broadly speaking, the “managed face-to-face” model that Nicolás Trotta presented to President Fernández consists in that, whenever epidemiological reality allows it,
the number of students
can be
reduced to a third or less
, while prioritizing the youngest students (with less autonomy) and those who need extra support from the teachers.
The model then proposes
three possible measures
to be adopted in each jurisdiction.
The first - reducing the number of students in schools - would be implemented by limiting the days of the week that schools attend.
For example, if they now go five days a week, let them go only two or three days a week.
Teachers' march on the last April 14, when they asked for the suspension of face-to-face classes.
Photo: Xinhua
The second measure points to the prioritization of students: the idea is that
those who need it most
go to school
and the rest stay at home, remotely.
Now, who are the ones who need it the most?
It must be defined by each jurisdiction, but the National Ministry of Education speaks of boys in pre-school, first and seventh grade (or sixth, depending on the province) of primary school and first and last year of secondary school.
The third measure to be adopted is to prioritize students who
did not do well in 2020
and who passed the year under the form of "accompanied promotion."
In general, they are students who already had problems with virtuality and a new year with this modality could damage their educational trajectories even more.
The "four scenarios"
In the City this year, classes started on February 17th.
Since then, there have been no major complications with the bubbles, they say from the Buenos Aires Ministry of Education.
That is why, before the second wave unleashed, that portfolio was even analyzing
greater easing for schools.
But now everything is different.
On the contrary, given the increase in infections, they considered four scenarios to go from
full presence to a more flexible scheme.
The first of the four scenarios has already been implemented.
It consists of
making all adult students virtual
.
That is, to those of vocational training, university and non-university higher in all its modalities.
With this measure, they estimate,
the movement of people
decreased by
21% and there are almost 60,000 fewer passengers
on public transport (over 325,000 passengers).
A hug to the Pestalozzi school in Belgrano, on April 19.
Photo: Juan Manuel Foglia
The second scenario is the one that would be launched in the coming days, if Health considers it necessary.
Incorporates
bimodality for high school students
.
Bimodality implies that the days that one bubble goes to the classroom, the other stays at home, with remote education.
Social mobility
would drop 33% and public transport would carry 106,000 fewer people.
Scenario 3 incorporates bimodality into the second cycle of primary school.
Social mobility
drops by 44%
and public transport carries
242,000 fewer people.
The fourth and last scenario aims to privilege students who enter and exit primary and secondary school.
With this scheme, social mobility
drops by 73%
and public transport carries about
300,000 fewer people
, they say from the City. And the Province?
The incognito that opens in front of this panorama is what attitude will take the government of the Province.
At the moment, there are 35 municipalities that comply with the DNU and do not have
any instance of face-to-face classes
.
The question will be to see
if they join
the managed presence scheme proposed by the National Ministry of Education, in the event that Alberto Fernández follows this line.
This will surely be present in the imminent negotiations about the future of the schools.
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