Schools to resume classes from May 14
Published : 29 Apr 2020, 21:41
Updated : 30 Apr 2020, 09:58
The government on Wednesday decided to lift the restrictions on early childhood education and care as well as primary and lower secondary education.
Classes will be resumed gradually from 14 May, said a government press release on late Wednesday night.
The government took the decision to resume classes at the educational institutions in a controlled manner based on assessments made by the health authorities.
The decision gives time to education providers to arrange for resuming contact teaching by informing their staff and making other arrangements.
According to an epidemiological assessment, there are no longer any grounds for extending the state of emergency concerning early childhood education and care and primary and lower secondary education.
International and national experience shows that the role of children in the dissemination of coronavirus infections is not similar to that of adults. Children are essentially not a source of infection. Based on the current information, the opening of schools will therefore be safe for both pupils and the staff, the authorities observed.
The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare have drawn up guidelines and instructions on the arrangements for returning to early childhood education and care and to primary and lower secondary education.
The most important thing is to avoid unnecessary physical contacts and arrange teaching premises more spaciously than is usual, said the release, adding that school break times and school meals must also be held with the students’ own class or group.
Large gatherings, such as spring festivals, will not be organised. The personnel must also work with the same group of children and hygiene guidelines must be strictly respected. Education providers will make decisions on more specific arrangements.
The ministries concerned will jointly prepare instructions for the regional state administrative agencies.
Physicians will assess whether risk groups may engage in contact teaching. In the case of employees, the assessment will be carried out together with a doctor and the employer.
The government will discuss the restrictions on upper secondary education and higher education later.
Schools were closed in Finland on 18 March 18 to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The news agency Xinhua adds: Defending the decision, Education Minister Li Andersson noted that in many other European countries, the dismantling of restrictions has also started with the schools.