Education Minister Branislav Groehling (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) was tasked by the central crisis management team with presenting by Monday (November 30) a solution on how to reopen schools from December 7. This is to be connected with the regular testing of students and parents. The costs of testing would be paid by the state but the testing should be organised by schools.
"I want to prepare a plan with a solution that will allow schools to reopen by Monday, November 30, when I also intend to present it to the central crisis management team", Groehling stated during a live stream, which is regularly broadcast by the Education Ministry on Thursday. He added that the ministry is working on the plan and is communicating with individual headteachers.
The minister noted that he had been tasked by the crisis management team with drawing up a proposal for ways to carry out testing and deal with pupils, their legal representatives and teachers in order to get the education system working again.
"We aren't able to do anything like that at the ministry, nor are schools. The wording that schools will test their students isn't quite true because we can't assert that schools will test their students. That's why we approached individual headteachers," said the minister, adding that talks are being held with representatives of the Slovak Towns and Municipalities Association, the Slovak Towns Union, the Primary Schools Association, and private and church school heads on whether anything like that is possible at all and how they will operate in the future.
Following the meeting, the Slovak Towns Union issued a statement saying that it is ready to support testing at primary schools founded by local governments. However, the union is convinced that if this project is to be successful and meaningful, testing must be mandatory. Therefore, it expects this legislative intention to be resolved by the state. The towns believe that if this condition is met and if all partners, that is the Education Ministry, the management of primary schools, as well as parents, children and school staff themselves responsibly cooperate, they can handle this demanding project.
Second-level pupils at primary schools have been learning remotely since October 26. Secondary school students are also being educated at home. University students will be studying remotely until the end of the winter term. The only children still attending facilities are first-level pupils at primary schools and children who go to nursery school.
