In several provinces, students partially returned to classrooms on the morning of this Monday the 24th.
The Ministry of Education estimated that on a national scale, more than one million students of the 4.3 million students that exist, from fiscal, municipal, private and fiscomisional educational units, could return to face-to-face classes this Monday 24.
Otherwise, the institutions must guarantee distance education, said Andrés Chiriboga, Deputy Minister of Educational Management of that State portfolio.
He added that there are more than 11,000 authorized educational continuity plans from the 16,000 institutions that exist in Ecuador.
Chiriboga maintained that they have determined a traffic light jointly with the national COE, which implies a calculation of the return, which is not done based on the percentage of capacity but on social distancing.
Azuay
The low level of COVID-19 infections in Zone 6 among teachers and students was one of the reasons for the partial and voluntary return to classrooms this Monday in the Austro area.
According to figures from the Zonal Coordination 6 of the Ministry of Education (Mineduc), of the 318,000 members of the public education system in Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago, only 1,000 have been contaminated.
The zonal coordinator 6 of the Ministry of Education, Miguel Pesántez, based his optimism about the partial return to classes on the statistics and the percentage of vaccinated children.
Other numbers that supported his confidence are the percentages of vaccination in the entire educational community because, as he explained, 99 percent of the teachers are already immunized, 95 of the boys between 11 and 17 have already received the two doses and 93 percent of the cent of children aged 5 to 11, same.
The partial and voluntary return of this Monday coincided with the International Day of Education and for this reason a civic moment was held at the Herlinda Toral educational unit. Although everything was solemn and with social distancing, the emotion of the students was noticeable.
One of them was Ariel Gómez, from the seventh year of Basic Education, who said that meeting up with his friends is part of his development and raises his self-esteem.
The students respected physical distancing inside the classrooms, wore masks and carried bottles with antiseptic alcohol.
Pesántez indicated that students (from public and private establishments) will not be asked for an antigen test to return to face-to-face classes; while teachers and administrators must present their vaccination card.
Due to the forced suspension they had after the Christmas and New Year holidays, Pesántez stated that the end-of-semester exams will be postponed for another week, while the forced return, scheduled for next February 7, is still under evaluation.
Regarding this re-entry to classes, the director of the Cantonal Health Council, Julio Molina, supports that based on the reality of Cuenca “it must be maintained that classes are blended and according to the will of the institution and parents.” According to the schedule of the Ministry of Health, vaccination for children between three and five will begin in the coming weeks.
The rivers
The basic education schools 15 de Noviembre and Víctor Villamarín, in the Quinsaloma canton in Los Ríos, are part of the 179 educational establishments that restarted face-to-face classes in Los Ríos.
Although the absenteeism was more noticeable, the teachers of this campus attended to impart the knowledge.
Students with masks and respecting social distancing was the panorama that was observed outside and inside the educational units.
During the day there were no news and biosecurity protocols were applied.
However, parents of families who decided not to send their children to classrooms expressed their disagreement with the voluntary return announced on Sunday by the Education authorities and which has the approval of the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE).
Priscila García, mother of two children aged 7 and 12, stated that she fears that her children will become infected. That is why he decided not to send them to school. “There is no medicine in hospitals, so if they get sick we have to spend on private care, and there is no money, more protection and care are at home,” said the woman.
While, Hernán Alcívar, who is the father of two minors aged 14 and 7, considered that the return to the classroom should be done as soon as possible, since this helps the cognitive development of the students.
“In two years we have learned to take care of ourselves and be responsible and we are vaccinated, it is time to return to the classroom,” said the citizen.
The 10 de Noviembre basic education school, in the Ventanas canton, was another of the schools where few students also attended to receive their face-to-face classes.
In the 12D01 education district that covers the Babahoyo-Baba-Montalvo cantons, 19 educational units returned to classes in person. In district 12D02 Urdaneta-Puebloviejo there were 18 schools; 12D03 Quevedo-Mocache (7); 12D04 Windows-Quinsaloma (63); 12D05 Vinces-Palenque (40) and 12D06 Buena Fe-Valencia (32).
Esmeraldas
With a distance of two meters between students and applying biosecurity measures, voluntary face-to-face classes were restarted at public schools in Esmeraldas.
Some 60 urban and rural establishments in the eight parishes and the provincial capital complied with the provisions of the Ministry of Education and the national COE.
Rommel Ruíz, district director of Education, verified that these requirements are met, as well as the capacity of students during recess hours.
The official announced that in the educational unit September 21 children from 5 to 11 years old will be immunized, starting on Tuesday 25. In this vaccination a daily average of 300 people is inoculated. (I)
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