Parents and Experts Call for Returning Kindergarten and Lower Class Students: "Do Not Want to Lose a Generation Here" • Galant: Half of those infected are concentrated in 10% of schools
Students at the Peace School in Mevaseret Zion, last month
Photography:
Oren Ben Hakon
The end of the long holiday vacation, which was supposed to end this coming Sunday, is expected to create a heated discussion at the beginning of the week about the return of the education system to activity.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a discussion on the issue, but now many parents and public health experts are calling for the return of lower and lower secondary school students (A to B) to educational institutions as soon as possible, given the low morbidity figures at these ages.
"From the beginning, they argued that medical decisions must be made on the basis of medical data, and also that the level of morbidity among young people, up to fifth and sixth grades, is nil and does not justify closure," explained the national parent leadership. "Closed - the economy is also closed. This is a continuation of the de facto tight closure, and therefore educational institutions must be opened."
Prof. Orly Manor, Chair of the National Institute for Health Policy Research, explained that “Since the beginning of the corona outbreak in Israel, we have been working on the role of children in the epidemic, and see that children are sicker than adults.
Children up to the age of 10 are half as likely to be infected as older children.
"The conclusion is that young children should be separated from those over the age of 10, because their chances of infecting others are also lower. In the period after the first closure - when kindergartens and grades 1-3 returned to learning in capsules - there were no outbreaks, so the method seems effective. "We should return next week to study in capsules for up to 20 children in kindergartens and lower grades, because we do not want to lose a generation here. It is very important to make sure that no one enters the school, not even outside instructors."
Yesterday, the Minister of Education, Yoav Galant, published data showing that 50% of patients are concentrated in 512 schools, which constitute less than 10% of all schools in Israel (5,200).
These are 372 schools in the ultra-Orthodox sector, 113 schools in the general sector and another 27 schools in the non-Jewish sector.
There is still no clear deadline for the return of studies to the Corona routine, although a report by the Corona National Information and Knowledge Center stated that it is right to return the young age groups to capsule learning first, then consider returning fourth- and sixth-graders and only finally Examine the return of middle school students gradually.It is estimated that by the time high school students return to school, it will be long weeks and even months.
Yesterday it was reported in "Israel Today" that the Ministry of Education has asked the Ministry of Health to use the technology for conducting rapid corona tests to interrupt infection chains in schools.
So far the issue has not been addressed, and the Ministry of Health claimed yesterday that the technology is not yet ripe for the education system.