Today high schools reopen to all students. A distance of one and a half meters should always be kept between students, teachers and among themselves, and strict hygiene rules from the RIVM apply. Students go to school staggered, but because of this distance criterion there will be room for a quarter to a third of all students. The question is how schools should organize their education.
coauthor: Job Vos
The government states that all students should be given the opportunity to regain as much education as possible at their school. The school itself interprets the implementation of this principle. Thus, if necessary, some students are allowed to be present at school more than other students, for example for extra guidance or test-taking. The advice of the VO-raad is to limit lessons to the core of all subjects and to teach at school mainly practical subjects and practical education that cannot be provided at home.(1)
The school board itself determines how education is arranged. This power is included in education legislation. These - adapted - school rules determine which pupils are at school at what times, at what times they follow distance education at home, et cetera. It is important that the (joint) participation council is involved in this, because it concerns the organization of education.
Participation in education is compulsory, while taking into account RIVM guidelines around illness and parental concerns about their children's safety at school. The Inspectorate of Education may intervene if schools do not follow the government's guidelines (for example, if no classes are taught, but only mentoring classes take place). The Inspectorate is exercising restraint until the summer break,(2) and will take action if there are signs that educational quality and safety is being compromised.(3)
The website https://www.weeraanwezigopschool.nl/ provides schools with information on how to deal with students who have fallen out of the picture, vulnerable youth or parents with concerns. Information is available from Ingrado, the association for compulsory education officers, on dealing with homeschooling, compulsory education and the right to education.(4) The advice is to continue to engage with parents who do not allow their children to attend school. Incidentally, this is still a challenge. Daily newspaper Trouw reports that since the reopening of elementary schools, over five hundred elementary school students are still untraceable.(5)
At school, RIVM guidelines should be followed. Depending on the layout of the school, water and soap (and if this is not possible, disinfectant hand gel) are used as much as possible at the entrances and in the classrooms. Tables are cleaned when students change. Paper towels should be available; workstations are spaced one and a half feet apart. Trash cans should be available everywhere and should be emptied after a change of students. No use of school lockers, canteens remain closed and students are not allowed to leave school grounds during breaks. There is definitely no temperature measurement, in case of health complaints, students go home. The use of temperature measurement as an indicator can actually create ambiguity when in doubt. In case of an unusual number of pupils or staff with health complaints, the school contacts the Public Health Service pursuant to Article 26 of the Public Health Act.
Compliance with RIVM guidelines is mandatory for schools. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Public Health Act, the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport issues a Designation to the Safety Regions to apply measures for education. The Designation is included in letters from the minister to the presidents of the Safety Regions.(6) The Safety Regions include these measures in their emergency regulations. In order to avoid regional differences, a model ordinance from the Veiligheidsberaad (the collaborating safety regions) is used.(7) The emergency ordinances contain the measures that schools must comply with, but it can also be a reference to, for example, the protocol of the PO Council or VO Council for reopening education. In the current model emergency ordinance, for example, Article 2.7 states that "it is forbidden to conduct educational activities in educational institutions (except e.g. primary education). It is expected that the new regulation will include the measures for secondary schools, with a reference to the protocol "Restarting secondary education."
The Safety Regions do not actively visit schools to verify compliance with all measures. This assumes that schools understand the importance of the RIVM measures and comply with them. If there are signals about school safety, anyone can contact the Safety Region. The Education Inspectorate can also decide to pass on reports, suspicions or observations about unsafety to the relevant safety region.
Schools' duty of care for students' social safety will continue to apply during the corona crisis. The fulfillment of the duty of care will focus primarily on students' perceptions of safety (at school and in online classes), alertness to possible signs of impairment of social safety including insecurity due to actions of others (students, staff and other people around students), and students' physical safety (at home and at school). The Inspectorate of Education remains alert to school compliance.
According to the protocol "Start-up secondary education," all teaching staff who are healthy and do not belong to a risk group are in principle available to provide teaching at the school. For other staff, the adage remains working from home whenever possible. School boards are obliged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to inform employees of the risks and measures they have taken against contamination risks. Schools organize their own supervision and guidance in the hallway, during breaks and lunch times. For example, one or more staff members (or upper school students) stand at the entrance to supervise the flow of students and ensure that the one and a half meter distance is observed. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the school board has a duty - insofar as this can reasonably be required - to organize the work in such a way that it does not adversely affect the safety and health of the employee. If employees are sick or belong to a high-risk group, they will not attend school. Employees who do not attend out of concern for getting sick or because they do not have childcare for their children, for example, will discuss an appropriate solution with their employer (school board).
Due to the one-half meter rule, it is not possible to house all students in one classroom. Therefore, schools cannot avoid continuing to provide part of their education remotely. Video calling is a tool that will also not disappear in secondary education for the time being. Schools must weigh the interests of the school against those of the individual student or teacher. Depending on this, it will have to be considered whether permission is required. For example, it already happens in primary education that images of class situations are used by parents to demonstrate that their child is receiving too little attention. Images of this are recorded and shared with other parents. Schools are therefore advised to think carefully about the purposes for which they want to use video calls and in what way. Important here is that they make good agreements with teachers, students and their parents. The Privacy at School website addresses the most frequently asked questions about AVG and distance education.(8)
(1) https://www.vo-raad.nl/nieuws/protocol-heropening-voortgezet-onderwijs-gepubliceerd
(2) https://www.onderwijsinspectie.nl/actueel/nieuws/2020/04/22/aanpassing-inspectietoezicht-tot-de-zomervakanties
(3) https://www.onderwijsinspectie.nl/actueel/nieuws/2020/05/07/meldingen-in-het-kader-van-de-coronacrisis
(4) https://www.ingrado.nl/kennisdossiers/covid_19_en_het_recht_op_onderwijs_en_ontwikkeling
(5) https://www.trouw.nl/onderwijs/de-scholen-zijn-open-maar-500-basisschoolleerlingen-zijn-nog-altijd-onvindbaar~b725c443/
(6) https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/brieven/2020/05/08/aanpassingen-in-de-opdracht-voor-bestrijding-van-de-uitbraak-van-covid-19
(7) https://www.veiligheidsberaad.nl/covid-19/
(8) https://www.privacyopschool.nl/onderwijsopafstand/
