Schools in Finland resume contact teaching on Thursday with just two weeks to go before the end of the academic year, after switching to distance learning to suppress the spread of novel coronavirus.
"According to experts, the impact of reopening schools on the epidemic will be small, but the benefits to children will be great," Education Minister Li Andersson said in a press conference on Tuesday.
The minister said that nevertheless, the Ministry of Education and Culture is also working on a temporary amendment to the constitution that would make it possible for students to alternate between distance and contact learning next autumn, if the epidemic surges again.
Andersson said that special arrangements will be in place to ensure children's safety.
"No one should go to school or early years education with flu symptoms," she stressed.
Gov't to closely follow return to school
Children in other Nordic countries have already returned to school and Andersson said that the government is closely following the effect on the epidemic.
"In the event that infections appear in a school decisions will be made according to the Infectious Diseases Act. Municipal officials will make decisions regarding tracing infections, possible school closures and quarantines," she noted.
She added that a decision to close a school could be made very quickly if needed, even in one day.
Few exceptions to return to school rule
The National Agency for Education said that students can opt out of contact learning for the last two weeks of school, but only if a child or family member is ill or belongs to a risk group.
Minister Andersson said that in such cases, the attending physician should send a medical certificate concerning the absence to the school.
Otherwise, pupils will be expected to comply with normal procedures regarding absences. In other words, parents will have to apply to the school for permission for their children to be absent.
Additional needs mapping in autumn
Olli-Pekka Heinonen, director general of the National Agency for Education, stressed that all children must return to school for contact teaching and that permission to engage in distance learning will only be granted in special cases.
These exceptions involve children who are sick or belong to risk groups.
Heinonen noted that some students will need special support after two months away from contact teaching in schools.
He said that teachers will consult with student welfare to determine how well children have managed during distance learning. This will allow them to determine any additional support students will need when the next academic year begins in autumn.
THL: Children play minor role in spreading infection
Pediatric infectious diseases physician Otto Helve of the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, THL, said that parents have many questions about their children's return to school.
Helve said that it has been observed that children do not contract the virus as readily as adults and that if they do, they generally do not get as sick.
"Children's role as a source of infection seems to be small," he continued.
He said that public health officials will closely follow how the re-opening of schools affects the epidemic.
The education agency has issued a series of guidelines to schools to help minimise the risk of spreading the disease at schools, including the following:
- Student groups are to be separated so that elementary and middle school groups have their own teachers.
- Schools will identify nearby off-campus facilities to ensure that students are more spread out
- Classes, meal times and school rides will be staggered to reduce student contact
- Students are to use only their own school materials, such as pencils and erasers
- School facilities will be disinfected more regularly and students' hand-washing and disinfectant use will be supervised
- Classes may also take place outdoors.